Lock and Key
by AngelsXAmongXUs
Summary: Kevin's always been locked up, but he's gotta let go sometime. And Gwen is determined to unlock his past and every regret-assuming she can let herself go enough to find the key. Novel-length, Gwevin, rtd T to be safe.
1. Carnival Games

**Hi guys! This is my first fic for the Ben 10 world, but definitely not my first fic ever. I love Gwevin, so that's what y'all are gonna get, lol. I'm a little busy and unmotivated during the summer, but when the school year starts up again, you can expect my posts to become more regular (like once a week, because that's how I roll).**

**Other than that, please sit back and enjoy some Gwevin. :D**

**Oh, and one other thing. I know how to take flames, ladies and gents. They don't faze me, so if you post them, I consider you a gnat unworthy of my time. Thank you. **

**Ops, almost forgot: fic is dedicated to vegetasprincess on YouTube; had I not discovered her videos, this fic never would've gotten the inspiration to get off the ground. XD**

* * *

Chapter 1: Carnival Games

A trip to the carnival leaves everyone satisfied, and while Kevin is still holding out on Gwen, something's gotta give…right?

"_Had my heart on lockdown _

_And then you turned me around_

_I'm feeling like a new born child_

_Every time I get a chance to see you smile."_

_-Hero/Heroine, by Boys Like Girls_

—

The race was finished. The Camaro slid across the finish line on two wheels in the middle of a drift because the idea struck him as appealing at the time. And then he glanced at the clock.

"Oh shitshitshitshitshit!" Kevin Levin exclaimed, fighting his own steering wheel for control of the car. "Later!" he called out his down window, leaving the spectators of the race to mark up another victory for him on the old military base's wall and speeding off onto the highway.

The new cell phone in his pocket vibrated and began ringing—he winced and flipped it open.

"Hello?"

"_Kevin!_ Where in the name of _God_ are you right now?!"

"On the way," he replied moodily, switching into two-wheel drive to save gas now that he was on the highway.

"Okay, so where have you been?"

"Out," was the vague response. If Gwen knew he'd been racing, she'd kill him.

"Out where?" the angry girl pressed. "Where could you possibly have been? We called you a half an hour ago and you were just waking up!" There was a pause, during which Kevin bit down on his lower lip and treaded the wheel. "…You weren't out racing, were you?"

"No!"

"Kevin…"

"No."

"Okay, then where were you?"

"I fell back asleep and I woke up about ten minutes ago," he lied. It didn't matter, he knew Gwen would see right through it.

"Did you at least win?" she asked, abandoning all hope of making him admit his wrongdoing. Kevin smiled—she could be so predictable sometimes.

"Would I lose?"

"Depending on how much sleep you got last night…"

"Plenty. Where are you?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Gwen's voice was confused and Kevin glanced again at the house he had pulled up to.

"I'm sitting in front of your house. Where are you?"

"Oh…look up, Kev."

He did—into the window he knew was Gwen's.

"Higher…"

His eye hit the roof, and when he saw her, he broke into a grin. She waved at him.

"There you go. Hi."

"Get down here before Ben calls me to yell at me, too."

She laughed and he watched her face light up. He loved to make her smile these days. She leapt of the roof and his stomach seized up, even though he knew she'd catch herself. At the last second, she made a motion with her fingers and a rosy chute appeared. She landed lightly on the lawn, still laughing.

"Hey," she greeted him warmly, sliding into the car.

"What's goin' on?" Kevin asked. "It must be important, you guys know not to call before three."

Gwen rolled her eyes. "You sleep so much it can't be healthy."

"I sleep just as much as you do," Kevin argued good-naturedly, playing with the tuning of the radio. "I just do it during the day. You decide, I'm gonna wreck."

"I got it," she replied, turning the dial. "Are you okay with Hits 106?"

Kevin rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it's fine."

"Hits 106 plays rock!" Gwen defended. Just then, Miley Cyrus came on, singing about the seven things she hated about her boyfriend.

The two flinched in unison. "Okay, you might have a point," she conceded. "What station do you usually listen to?"

"101.5," he replied. "It might be a little hardcore for you, though," he teased. "Not much Miley."

Gwen stuck her tongue out at him and he shook his head. "You want something funny?" he asked, still teasing. "A fifteen-year-old sticking her tongue out at her…teammate," he finished smoothly, a sinking feeling in his stomach. He had been about to say boyfriend.

"Chauffer," Gwen corrected. She pretended not to have heard the catch in his voice that said he'd been about to say something else.

"Teammate who got stuck with the chauffer duties," Kevin moderated easily. "I drive and kick butt."

Gwen laughed. "Okay, I'll give you that one. And I wasn't supposed to tell you until Ben got here," she informed him. "He told me he wanted to see the look on your face."

"What, are we going to the Bahamas or somethin?" he asked.

"Not even close."

The two pulled up to Ben's house, and he ran out the door right away, hopping into the backseat happily.

"Hey Gwen, gorilla."

"Hi Ben," Gwen smiled.

"Chimp," Kevin grunted, throwing the car into motion before Ben was done shutting the door. He looked in the backseat and his jaw dropped. He eased off the gas very gently and put on the brake. "Ben…I'm not kidding, get rid of that."

"What?" Ben asked, swishing an open bottle of Mountain Dew around.

"You know what," he growled.

"You drink stuff in here all the time!" Ben argued. He rummaged around under the seat. "Look! This is a pizza box!"

"Yeah. _I_ do. _You _don't."

"Oh, for the sake of my sanity, Ben, put the cap on it and Kevin, quit being such a baby," Gwen groaned.

"Fine," the two chorused, and Gwen hid a smile.

"So where are you guys taking me?" Kevin asked. "I gotta know where to drive."

"The fair is in town. We're picking up Julie, and then we're all going."

With the danger of spilling pop all over his upholstery long gone, Kevin felt free to slam on the brakes.

"_What?!_"

"Come on, Kev, don't be such a sociopath," Gwen teased, and Kevin glared in her general direction.

"You told me it was important. In my book, important is," he held up a hand and began ticking off the reasons on his fingers. "One; kicking alien butt, two; looking up new leads on the DNAliens, three; anything illegal that I can't pass up for sleep, and four; anything involving something more exciting than sleeping. A fair doesn't make any of those."

"Either you drive us there, or I tie you up, stuff you in the trunk, and _I_ drive us there," Gwen offered. "You'll have fun, and it's a good chance to just relax. We don't get that often."

"I'd like to see you try to tie me up," Kevin laughed.

"I'd like to see you try to stop me from tying you up," Gwen fired right back, and Kevin fell oddly silent.

"Okay, point taken," he relented. "But why do _I_ have to go? Can't I just drop you guys off and pick you up in, like, four hours?

"Cause I'll be alone and extremely bored if you don't come," Gwen wheedled, and Kevin knew he'd been had.

"I cannot believe you don't have a boyfriend," he grumbled.

"Neither can I," Gwen retaliated, and while she hadn't said it outright, Kevin could tell the statement was loaded and he visibly deflated. "Not that you would ever let me have one; you'd bite his head off before he even got a chance to introduce himself."

"I'd like to see him try to bite his own head off," Ben put in smartly.

"Watch yourself," Kevin warned, but he seemed to have pretty much given up on arguing. "Okay," he sighed heavily. "I'd rather have my car keyed, but what's this Julie's address?"

"432 East Elm," Ben replied.

"That was pretty fast," Kevin taunted.

"What's _my_ address, Kevin?" Gwen asked.

"3804 14th Street and Williams," Kevin spat out without thinking.

"That was pretty fast," mocked Ben from the back.

Kevin said nothing for a moment, forcing an uncharacteristic blush back. "I pick you guys up all the time. I know Ben's, too," he defended. "Ain't nothin," he grumbled, sinking down in his seat.

"I think you're embarrassed," Gwen pushed.

"I think you're crazy," he grumbled back, not looking at her.

"I think you're stubborn."

"I think you're impatient."

"I think you're playing games."

"I think you're imagining things."

"_I_," Ben interrupted the mini-argument, frowning. "Think you guys need to discuss this somewhere else because the romantic tension is strangling me right now."

"I told you to watch it!" Kevin exclaimed with a raised voice.

"Kevin…" Gwen started.

He rounded on her. "What?"

She rolled her eyes. "I wanted to tell you that we passed Julie's house…four houses ago."

Kevin sighed heavily and turned the car around a little more roughly than was probably necessary. "All right, I'll do it, but you guys will never use me as a ride to somewhere again, alright?"

"Sure, Kev, whatever you say," Ben replied, preoccupied with the girl coming toward the car.

"Hi Ben!" Julie greeted, giving him a quick hug. "Hey Gwen, Kevin."

"Hey Julie," Ben replied, and Gwen nodded. Kevin didn't reply—he felt like he might explode.

"To the fair," he muttered darkly, putting the car into gear.

"What's his problem?" Julie asked, and Ben and Gwen both shook their heads.

—

"You know, this is almost a date," Gwen pushed lightly, the two of them walking up and down the rows and rows of rides and attractions already on the pier and the new ones in town for the fair.

"Really?" Kevin asked, a tinge of sarcasm giving his voice bite. "What, other than the fact that I'm paying, we're alone, it's the pier, and people keep looking at us like we should be on a date but they can't figure out why we're not holding hands?"

"Don't be so sour," Gwen murmured, hip-checking him. "You _could_ be having a good time of you'd just drop the tough guy act for a while and acted human."

"I ain't human," Kevin replied, not thinking of the heavy double meaning that laced his words. A shadow crossed Gwen's face and he felt his heart twist. "Sorry, that's not—"

"Not what you meant. I know," Gwen soothed. "Don't worry about it for once, okay?" She pulled his eyes to hers, obsidian on emerald. It was a good feeling.

"I'll try," he shrugged when he finally remembered how to talk. "No promises."

Gwen smiled—definitely a start. She'd have him loosened up by the end of the night.

"You hungry?" Kevin asked her, his eyes evaluating the concession stands.

"A little bit," Gwen replied, following his gaze. "Lay off the hardcore food eating till we get off the roller coaster, alright?" she asked him, tugging his sleeve.

He laughed. "You? On a roller coaster? This I gotta see."

Gwen bristled, but she was grinning. "What? I'm not afraid of heights."

"Yeah," he scoffed. "That's what I thought until I rode the Patriot. It ain't the height that gets ya."

"I can totally ride any roller coaster you throw at me," Gwen assured him.

"If you get afraid, you can always hold onto me," Kevin shrugged with a devilish smile.

Gwen stopped, looking at him with an "oh please" expression.

"You know what, Kev?" she asked, rolling her eyes and pointing a finger at him. "You would. You. Would." She walked away, toward the concession stands, leaving Kevin to wonder…

"Whaddaya mean? Seriously…Gwen, what's that supposed to mean?" When the girl didn't answer him, he crossed his arms and looked to the sky. "Girls are so touchy," he muttered to himself before trotting off behind her.

—

Ben and Julie sat down a half an hour later, ready to rest after riding most of the new rides. He passed her a Pepsi and set down a basket of fries between them, mentally building himself up. He could do rides and holding her hand and goofing off. That was simple. But one-on-one time, where you had to talk about something relevant, escaped him every time. They hadn't been together much since their last trip to the pier, and he knew Julie was bursting with questions, some he wasn't sure he wanted to answer.

"Do you want to tell me?" the Asian girl asked softly, looking at him. "Or talk about something else?"

He sighed. "I know you want to know, and it's only fair if you did. It's not like it's really that big of a secret anyway. But I'm afraid that knowing will put you in danger."

"You sound like some movie hero. What, are you trying to save the world from some bad guys or something?"

Ben flinched—he knew how corny it sounded, and the irony of her guess was eating him alive. "Actually…sort of. You have to promise not to spread this around, though, and not to show it off. Humans aren't really supposed to know."

"I promise," she replied earnestly.

He nodded and continued. "This," he motioned to the Omnitrix. "Is called the Omnitrix. As far as we know, there's only one in the universe, and I'm not even really sure why I got it."

"We?" Julie asked. "How many of you are there?"

"Lots," he told her. He debated about telling her about Kevin and Gwen, but thought better of it—he had to get their opinions first. "I know a lot of kids who have powers. We're actually trying to build a team big enough to fight back, but that's not the point.

"The Omnitrix is the only thing in the universe that can actively store and use the DNA of other alien species." At her shocked look, he added, "Yeah, aliens are very real. Now, I have ten on this, but knowing my past experiences, there's a lot more I haven't unlocked yet. I got it the summer I was ten, and fought a lot of aliens then.

"I finally found a way to take it off, and I've been living a normal life up till a few months ago when weird things started happening again. I put if back on, and now I have totally new aliens, and I guess a new mission. Are you following so far?" he asked, afraid she wasn't believing anything.

"Yeah," she smiled. 'What's there not to get? My boyfriend's an intergalactic hero."

"I know it sounds weird, but in this line of work, you kinda get used to weird," Ben told her with a smile. "I'm just glad you're not afraid of me."

"Nope," she shook her head. "So far, I haven't seen anything to be afraid of.

Ben thought about DNAliens and the Highbreed, the Forever Knights and their dragon, not to mention hundreds of crime lords who wanted his blood—thanks loads, Kevin. There was plenty to be afraid of. "That'll change someday," he told her cryptically. "But I want you to know that we _can_ protect you if you need it. Any time something weird happens, call me. Nothing's too small."

"I trust you," Julie assured him. "And you're not gonna tell me what your mission is, are you?"

Ben smiled. He liked that about Julie; she trusted him to tell her in his own time. "Not now, but someday, sure," he promised. "Someday, I'll let you know everything."

And looking at her, he figured he probably someday would.

—

"You been avoidin' it all night, Gwen," Kevin told her, looking up at the tall stilts of the coaster. He glanced at his watch. "It's nine. You have to be home by ten-thirty, and I gotta be back at my place at eleven. You gonna do it, or what?"

"Piece of cake," Gwen replied confidently, strolling forward. Kevin leaned against the turnstile and watched her smugly. After a moment, she realized he wasn't following her and looked back. "Aren't you coming?" she asked him, frowning slightly.

He shook his head. "Nah, roller coasters aren't exactly my thing. And besides, you said you'd be fine on your own. Nothin' to worry about."

She seemed to hesitate, then glanced back up at the coaster in time to see it shoot by with it's load of passengers, and then rocket up a loop. Kevin could see her pale from where he was standing.

"Just come with me," she murmured, stepping closer, a little beg in her voice.

"Why?" he asked lazily, cocking an eyebrow. "I don't like coasters and you'll be okay on your own. You told me you weren't afraid." He threw the challenge out lightly and tapped her on the shoulder with it.

"That was…" she trailed off, unsure of what to say next.

"Before you saw it?" Kevin offered, shifting his weight and sticking his hands in his pockets. "Before you realized I was gonna make you do it?"

"No," she assured him indignantly. "It's just…it's darker now and I can't see as well."

Kevin glanced at the clouds. "Gwen…the sun ain't even set yet. And you'll be riding in a car. Why does it matter if you can't see?"

Gwen frowned at him as the coaster came into it's stop, releasing it's riders.

"It's now or never," he pressed.

"Fine. I'm a _little_ scared to go alone my first time. So would you please go with me?" she asked through gritted teeth.

Kevin broke into a smile and pushed away from the stile. "Yeah, I guess if you're afraid."

She thumped him lightly on the chest. "And _don't_ think I don't know what you just pulled either," she growled, her eyes flashing. "You can be so underhanded sometimes…"

"Hey," he comforted her. "We're both happy and that's all the matters. Right?"

She glared at him and sighed. "Yeah, I guess."

Kevin smiled. "See? I knew you'd see it my way."

They grabbed a car toward the middle—Kevin measured it specifically so she wouldn't be too shaken to ride it again someday—and strapped themselves in.

Gwen was paler now and he swallowed a laugh. It would be such bad timing if he laughed now.

The cars lurched into motion and Gwen swallowed heavily. "Kevin…" she started, but the rest of what she said was stolen by the wind. This particular coaster started quicker than either of them had anticipated, so she stopped and simply gripped the guardrail with white knuckles.

"You're fine," he assured her loudly with a little smile. "Trust me."

The first drop was upon them, and the coaster plunged downward. Gwen felt her voice rise to fever pitch, but she figured that was fine—Kevin's was rising to match hers. Actually, so was everyone else's. Then she caught a glimpse of the first loop and her happiness vanished, replaced by adrenaline and fear. She reflexively grabbed Kevin's arm and pressed close to his side.

He smiled and let her, took her hand, and thanked God for roller coasters.

—

"See? Was that not fun?" It was the first thing Kevin had said in ten minutes, but that amount of time on a coaster felt like more and less at the same time. Gwen unstuck herself from him—he was almost positive that, at the highest point of the ride, she would've crawled into his lap if not for the security bar—and smiled.

"Actually," she told him breathily. "It was. It was really, _really_ fun." She looked into his eyes, and he saw hers shine in the failing sky's light. "Thanks for making me do it."

"Eh…it was nothing," he shrugged it off, but his heart was soaring.

"Let's go get some food, I'm starving!" Gwen exclaimed, hopping out of the car and running toward a food stand.

Kevin got out more slowly and stared at her for a moment, utterly dumbstruck. _How_, he thought to himself, _could she go from terrified to starving in that amount of time_? Then he dug out his wallet and wandered after her.

"I wonder…" Gwen mused, looking intently between her cotton candy and Kevin.

He realized what she was thinking and paled. "Gwen…no. Not cotton candy…and not here," he protested.

"Just your hand," she coaxed. "I've never seen you do anything but metal and concrete before."

"I can do a lot of other things, take my word for it," he frowned, eyeing the snack like it was a loaded gun. "I'll show you anytime you want, just not now."

"Come on. You made me ride the coaster…" she trailed off. "Have some fun."

"It wouldn't be fun, it would be annoying," he shot back.

"Fine," Gwen replied sullenly, throwing him a cone and a longneck of Pepsi. "But you're turning into a gigantic Jolly Rancher next time I buy some."

"Deal," Kevin replied, just glad to have dodged the bullet.

"I'm going to the store tomorrow," Gwen informed him offhandedly, suppressing a smirk.

Kevin frowned. "Okay, that was low."

"A deal's a deal, Kev," she replied. "Hope you enjoy being a piece of candy."

He rolled his eyes and bit back a retort—now was not the time to fight like a pair of five year olds. Casually walking away a few paces, he heard what he wanted to hear. Gwen followed him to a picnic-style table and sat down across from him. He took a drink from his bottle and cocked an eyebrow.

"How come is it you always follow me when I go somewhere?" he asked.

"Umm…because if I loose you, I loose my ride home," Gwen replied like it was the most obvious thing on the planet. Given, it was, but he wasn't giving up that easily.

"No, I mean…like that time when I went to find Volcanis."

"Because you're a teammate and if we lost you, we'd be royally screwed." Her voice was cool.

"If I got up and walked away right now, would you follow me?"

"No."

"Honestly?"

"Yeah." The catch in her voice made him pry.

"I don't think that's true."

"You're wrong then."

Kevin stood and smiled, then gave her a wave and walked away, hands in his pockets. He would give her ten yards.

Gwen stared after him, frustrated with him and his games. The urge to get up and stop him was overwhelming, but they both knew that was exactly what he wanted. The way he was in her mind all the time, the way any little thing brought back thoughts of him, his voice, the way he laughed, his cocky bad boy swagger, the way anything she did seemed like it would be more fun if only he was there, they drove her insane. Kevin Levin had become a permanent fixture in her mind, and unlike the DNAliens and saving the world, which she could put off, she couldn't go ten minutes without thinking something to do with him.

And it made her so mad. It frustrated her so much, not just that, but also the way that he was obviously in the same boat but refused to do anything about it.

In a weakly defeated voice, Gwen sighed, "Kevin." just loud enough for him to hear. He spun on his heel and stood still, watching her with a faint smile.

"Yes?"

"Come back."

"Why?"

In reply, Gwen gave him a glare that sent lesser men running. Kevin just chuckled and walked back.

"See? Totally right."

"So why don't you do something about it?" she snapped, growling inwardly at his tough-guy act.

Thrown off guard by the sudden mood swing, Kevin sat back somewhat, unsure of what to do.

"'Cause," was his intelligent retort.

Gwen sighed heavily. "If I said I hadn't seen that coming, I'd be lying," and she pushed away from the table, feeling the need to be away from him for a few moments…before she punched his face in.

She could feel him tailing her as she moved among the crowd, searching for the end of the pier where she could sit. At least he didn't try to approach her—she always defended that he wasn't _completely _stupid.

Reaching a place where she could sit on the edge of the dock, Gwen looked down at her own reflection, and the moon behind her. After a moment of silence, Kevin's hesitant reflection joined the pair just over her shoulder. Gwen looked around discreetly and tossed a pebble into the water, smudging their reflections so she didn't have to look at his confusion.

Kevin sighed and turned on his heel, pacing viciously but, to his credit, quietly. He couldn't pretend he hadn't seen her throw the rock any more than he could pretend he didn't know why. Finally, after some fighting with himself in which a large part of his pride had been a casualty, he threw himself down heavily beside Gwen.

When she started to turn away, he grabbed her wrist, just firmly enough to get her attention.

"Please listen," he requested calmly, quietly. Gwen scoffed in reply and he shifted his grip on her wrist, holding her more effectively and getting his point across rather well. "I don't _have_ to ask," he warned her, and Gwen looked down, suddenly very aware of his tremendous strength. Usually, he only exhibited it when he was fighting—seeing it here, among people, on a calm night was just…odd. Not to mention he wasn't phased; a startling reminder that the strength didn't come with the absorbed material, it was who he was.

Kevin winced and loosened his grip when he saw her look down. His fingers weren't even touching now, and that was saying something, given that his hand was almost twice the size of hers. Somewhere in the back of his head, he knew he shouldn't be using his strength to scare her. Frustration had gotten the best of him once again, and look where it had gotten him…

"Sorry," he whispered, trying desperately to smooth the moment over. "But hear me out, okay?"

Gwen glanced up at him, then away again, and nodded ever so slightly. She was just as upset as he was over it.

"I'm just…I'm not good at this, you know?" He looked down—this was so insanely out of character he didn't even know where to start, but they were both tired of playing games. It was time to be honest. "All my life I've been alone…well, you know. I mean…no parents…no one I could trust like you and Ben. And then the Null Void thing…and now this. I get screwed up about stuff sometimes, 'cause thinkin' about other people just ain't my thing, ya know?" After a long and painful pause, he sighed. She was waiting for him to say it, and there was no way to get past this without doing so. "So I'm sorry for when I do stuff that ticks you off, okay? I can't promise I'll stop, 'cause mosta the time I don't even know I'm doing it, but I don't mean it."

"Kevin, you can't keep using your past as an—"

"I know!" he interrupted loudly, abruptly lowering his voice again. "I know I can't. And I'm trying to change for you guys, because disappointing you pisses me off so much you don't even know." Stopping suddenly, he swallowed. He hadn't meant to say that much. "But," he added hastily, trying to distract her from what he had let slip. "It takes time. Just be patient. Please?"

Gwen pushed a few stray strands of hair behind her ear and smiled at Kevin gently, making eye contact for the first time in a while. She loved it when she could get him to talk; this was the Kevin she wished she could see more of. The one he hid from her.

"As long as you get there, I really don't care," she assured him softly. "I like this Kevin, by the way," she added. "It'd be nice if he'd come out to play a little more often, okay?"

Kevin smiled warmly. "He'll have to see what he can do. Come on," he urged, standing and extending a hand to help her up. "Let's go scrape the kids up off of whatever they crashed on."

Gwen laughed, accepting his hand and straightening her clothes. When he didn't immediately let go, she decided not to bring it up. It wasn't like it was a big deal to her, either.

—

"Let's go, chillins," Kevin crowed, tapping Ben on the shoulder. The boy jumped, almost falling off the bench he'd been sitting on. "Oh wait," he corrected himself, looking around and seeing no Julie. "Chillin. Where's Julie?"

"Using the bathroom," Ben replied. "Have a good time?" He was looking pointedly at the pair's hands, which Gwen realized with a start, they were still holding.

"Err…yeah," she replied, dropping his hand hastily. "I'm just a little tired. I tripped a few minutes ago."

"Mmm-hmm," Ben replied, not believing a word. "Ready to go?" He turned to Julie, who was now returning.

"Time to go already?" she asked, looking a little put-out. "Oh well. We'll have to do it again sometime, huh guys?"

"Yeah," Kevin replied, shocking everyone. "It was a good time." He hesitated, rethinking his words. "I mean…a good time for a carnival, you know. As good as a carnival will get."

The other three laughed at his awkward save as they walked back to the car. Yes, in general, it had been a pretty good night. For a carnival.

* * *

**XD Hello chickadees! Had fun? I certainly hope so. This one was pretty plotless, just laying some groundwork, you know, the usual. It will get better, promise. **

**Um…a few things I know I wanted to hit…oh yesh:**

**The idea of Kevin winning a drag race and then refusing to tell Gwen about it amuses me. **

**Kevin pretty much has to be super, mindblowingly strong as a normal person, because when you think about it, as !metal!Kevin, he pretty much has to bend the covering and then bend it back just to **_**blink**_**. So yeah. There's my proof. **

**While Julie is almost certainly an alien (lol) I'm pretending she's not.**

**So that's it! Any questions? Concerns? Other things? Don't be shy, hit review! Srsly…you don't review, I don't write. **

**Coming up next: Chapter 2 of "Lock and Key":**

2: Kevin Goes Postal…Finally

Kev owns up to what we all saw coming from his very first appearance on the old Ben 10—'bout frickin' time!


	2. Kevin Goes PostalFinally

**Hello hello again! This fic took off rather quickly, compared to what I usually write. Given, I hit this fandom toward it's beginning, so…whatever. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, and enjoy the next chap!**

**DISCLAIM: Remember that episode where everyone was at the secret fishing spot? If this show was mine, Kevin would walk around shirtless CONSTANTLY. **

**Also, I forgot to put up a link last chapter. The !cotton candy!Kevin was not my idea, here's a link to the pic: ****sandy87./art/Kevin-is-sweet-86455559**

**CHAPTER DEDICATED TO: C-Note…for showing me that I didn't have to hide this fandom! (admit it, we all love it but are afraid to admit it cause it's sposed to be a kids show)**

* * *

2: Kevin Goes Postal…Finally

Kev owns up to what we all saw coming from his very first appearance on the old Ben 10—'bout frickin' time

"_You better lose yourself in the moment_

_You want it? You better never let it go_

_You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow"_

–_Loose Yourself, Eminem_

—

"You have got. To be kidding me."

"Ben…that's risky."

"No, it's stupid. You can't tell some girl the best-kept secret in the universe because she made you a _promise_."

"Who says you two are the best best-kept secret in the universe?" Ben scoffed. "Gwen, maybe, but Kevin, I doubt it. I just want to tell her about you guys."

"Yeah, but where will that lead?" Gwen asked gently. "Soon, you'll have to tell her about the Plumbers, and then the DNAliens, and soon she'll know everything and be in danger."

There was a long pause, during which Ben looked down at the carpet and the other two looked at each other.

"Ya know what I think?" Kevin asked finally, the silence strangling him. "I think he just wants someone to play hero for. If Julie knows, DNAliens'll be after her constantly, and that gives him an excuse to show off for her."

"Like you _don't_ play hero!"Ben shot back heatedly. Kevin started to argue, but Ben rolled right over him. "She's obligated to know! If she's dating me, she's gonna find out sooner or later, and it's better that if comes from me."

"She doesn't need to know anything!"Kevin shouted. "Look at your grandpa; he could have kept it from Verdona if she hadn't turned out to be alien to begin with! It kept her and your _parents_ safe! What if they use her as bait? What if she's an alien already? She could get one of us killed!"

"If she was an alien, don't you think she would have tried something already? And bait? They could use her now! Telling her wouldn't change anything!"

"Humans aren't sposta know!"

"Oh, who really follows that rule anyway!?" Ben asked exasperatedly. "Me and Gwen's parents know, the Forever Knights know, the government probably knows, and with more and more half-Plumber kids coming out of the woodwork, how long is it until the other half of the world knows?"

"As long as possible! Telling anyone who doesn't absolutely need to know would—"

"All right, separate! _Now_!" Gwen shouted, energy flying from her hands and throwing each boy against an opposite wall. They began to argue again, and she covered their mouths with the energy, reducing them to glaring murderously. "Is it so hard to have a civil discussion over things?"

"Mmphf!" they chorused loudly. While she couldn't be sure, Gwen was almost certain she could take that to be a 'yes'.

"Fine. You two, sit here for a minute. _Say nothing, _or I'll make you sit on the couch for an hour and hold hands!" As Gwen walked into the kitchen, the boys' eyes widened. An unspoken pact passed between them—they would be absolutely silent until told otherwise.

—

Ten minutes later, the two sat on the far ends of the couch, still glaring, but at least they glared in silence. Gwen sat between them, her arms crossed.

"Worst…idea…_ever_," Kevin growled, crossing his arms over his chest and averting his eyes.

"Don't push it, Kev," Gwen warned him. "I'm buying Ben's point a lot more than I'm buying yours right now."

"What?!" he exclaimed, sitting up.

"Ben's right; either way, we'll be putting her in no more danger than she is now by telling her, and if she's an alien we're pretty much screwed anyway. So there's no point in hiding it from her anymore."

The doorbell rang and Gwen, enjoying her newfound power over her teammates, nodded to Ben. "Get the door, Ben."

He sprang up and answered the door, inviting a slightly confused Julie into the living room.

"Err…hi Ben…Gwen, you said there was something you wanted to talk to me about?" she asked.

"Actually, there's something Ben wanted to talk to you about. I made the call to keep Kevin from killing him."

Julie's eyebrows rose in surprise and she glanced at Kevin who was glaring pointedly into space.

"Don't worry about him," Ben assured her. "He's completely harmless as long as Gwen doesn't leave." He watched with a grin as Kevin's jaw tightened, but he said nothing to disprove the point.

"Okay, so what is it that you wanted to tell me?" Julie asked. Her confusion wasn't abated, and she was beginning to wonder if something was wrong.

"Don't worry," Ben urged. "It's nothing bad, it's just…I was going to tell you this last night, but I wanted to talk with these guys first. It does concern them, after all. Umm…you might want to sit."

Julie followed his instruction, sitting down in the chair opposite of the couch where the three friends were already seated.

"I told you about the aliens last night," Ben started, looking into her eyes. A twinge of guilt hit him—if something bad happened, it would be all his fault, and after Gwen had stood up for him to Kevin and everything… "And I said 'we'," he pressed on, shaking off the feeling. "Well, these two are part of that 'we'. Gwen is part Adonite. She can manipulate energy, and…and stuff…" he stumbled, unable to put his cousin's powers to words.

"Umm…I'll explain," Gwen told him with a smile. "Manna. I'm sure you've heard of it."

Julie's brows knitted together. "You mean that stuff Runescape groupies are always talking about? Isn't that another word for magic?"

Gwen winced—the technology age was ruining alien reputation yet again. "Sort of. Not really; manna is the life-energy all things give off. Adonites draw it from the living things around them and release it in the form of…whatever they want, really. I can make energy disks, use it to grab things, make shields, dowse, and even track someone from the vibrations they leave on objects." As she spoke, the half-Adonite demonstrated each ability, with the exception of the last two.

"Cool," Julie wondered, her eyes shining. That's amazing, Gwen!"

"Thanks," Gwen replied modestly. "It took me a long time to get that good. And…well, as for Kevin here…we're not really sure what he is, but watch what he can do…" she prompted, bumping his shoulder.

He rolled his eyes and wordlessly reached into his pocket, pulling out a key ring. He held one key between two fingers and let the steel slide over his fingers, arms, and soon his whole body.

"Transmutation," he told her bluntly. "I can turn into anything I touch."

"Whoa," a transfixed Julie exclaimed, reaching out unconsciously. "Can I…?"

Kevin seemed to hesitate a moment, glancing at Ben and Gwen briefly before nodding. Julie delicately reached over and tapped his forearm, grinning at the metallic sound it made.

"So…how many more are there?"

Ben shrugged. "We don't know. All we know is that there are so many different kinds of aliens, we'll probably never see another half-Adonite, or another…whatever Kevin turns out to be."

"Hey," Gwen mused, her eyes lighting up. "Julie, you wanna see something _really_ cool?"

"Sure," Julie replied with a laugh, looking at the trio. "I think you three are gonna be a lot more fun than I thought."

"You got that right. I'll be right back." Gwen stood, running up to her room. She opened a drawer of her desk and pulled out a brightly-colored bag, chuckling darkly. Returning to the living room, she held the bag of candy up for everyone, particularly Kevin, to see.

"Who wants to see Kevin go Jolly Rancher?" she asked, beaming.

Kevin's jaw dropped. "Gwen, you…you…" He struggled to find words, not wanting to hurt her, but all the same wanting to get his point across. "Really bad person," he finished lamely.

Gwen giggled. "I know. What's your favorite flavor, Kev?"

He responded with a frown and an almost-glare. A full glare at Gwen was pretty much impossible. He'd learned that a long time ago.

"Okay," Gwen continued, shrugging. "Julie? Ben? Have a preference?"

"Watermelon," they chorused, and Gwen dug one out of the bag with a grin, as well as a handful for everyone to suck on.

"Mmm…pink. Maybe you should have spoken up sooner, huh, Kev?"

"Great," Kevin growled. "Just throw it here."

"How come is it that every time I see you guys, Kevin's in a bad mood?" Julie asked brightly, watching the older boy unwrap the candy with disdain.

"It's not your fault," Gwen told her with a smile. "Ben and Kevin argue a lot."

"He has anger issues," Ben added cockily.

"Tennyson…" Kevin started exasperatedly. Then he paused, looking up from the Jolly Rancher in his palm. "You know what? Not worth it. At all. So what are the rules for this?" he asked Gwen, shrugging off his previous frustration.

"Whole body, five minutes."

"And?"

"And _what_?"

"What's in it for me?"

"You get to make all of us insanely happy for about five minutes. Did you honestly think you'd getting anything else out of it?"

"Not really," he replied flatly. "Just hoping I'd luck out." He closed his fingers over the small candy, imagining it slipping over him, and then it did.

Suddenly his fingers were coated in the hard, slightly sticky substance. It was odd, somewhere between plastic and metal. He'd never done food before, certainly not candy.

On the outside, Kevin looked somewhat like himself, covered in…well, melted Jolly Rancher. The fact that the transmutation was only a covering was glaringly obvious—it looked like he had been enclosed in vaguely rosy glass.

"That…is so weird," Gwen smiled, tapping the side of his head with her fist. "What does it feel like?"

"Like I'm suddenly candy-coated Kevin," Kevin replied, laughing hard. "What else?"

"Do you taste like candy?" Julie asked.

"Probably," he replied between breaths. He knocked his fists together, shattering the brittle layer of candy. He picked a piece up off the table and stuck it in his mouth. "Yup, candy."

"Do you know how valuable that is?" Ben asked, unable to contain himself. "We could end world hunger!"

"We could give everyone in the world gold!" Gwen exclaimed.

"Forget that…we could give _ourselves_ gold!" scoffed Kevin.

"We could make nuclear energy," Ben mused, imagining Kevin touching a nuclear reactor.

"We could totally make an army of five-year-olds fueled by endless candy!" Julie exclaimed, and everyone froze, wondering at the possibilities.

"Screw a team of mutants," Kevin smiled. "An army of five-year-olds would kill!"

"You see the good things that come of being stupid?" Gwen asked, sitting down heavily on the couch, wiping tears from her eyes.

"A question I never thought I'd hear you ask," Ben put in, throwing herself down beside him.

"This is gonna be fun," Julie laughed, joining the two on the arm of the couch.

"Kevin," Gwen smiled. "Get over here."

He hesitated just a moment before letting the Jolly Rancher coating fall off him and smashing Ben and Gwen together to make room for himself.

"You two are such doofuses." She smiled, putting an arm around either boy's neck and squeezing. "But you're my doofuses. Welcome to the team, Julie," she added, looking over Ben's head. "This is pretty much what you have to look forward to."

"Works for me," Julie grinned, and the girls exchanged winks.

—

It was late when Kevin finally dragged himself home. What started out as just hanging around Gwen's house turned into an all-day laze around town fest.

He owned an apartment on the outskirts of Bellwood, not big enough to be a flat, but definitely nicer than the three-room crap they tried to pull about sixty percent of the time. If he wanted to throw parties, he needed room for people to move.

But there hadn't been any action here for weeks. He'd just been too busy. Lately, he was lucky he even made it home instead of crashing at one of the Tennyson places. Checking the phone's voicemail had become an innate sense; he didn't even think about it as he stumbled over in the dark and hit _play_, too lazy to turn on the lights

_"You have four messages,"_ an electronic voice informed him. _"One, Gwen Tennyson, 7:30 this morning. Open?"_

He pressed _delete_. It was a wakeup call he'd been to unconscious to get.

_"Two, Dax Stone, 3:42 pm, June 4__th__. Open?"_

_Delete_ again. He'd called Dax on the way home.

_"Three, unknown caller, 4:14 this afternoon. Open?"_

Kevin paused. Unknown caller? Those were always traders. Always. But he hadn't gotten a call about a deal since news of his new alliance with "the good guys" had leaked out. He pressed _play_.

_"Kev, buddy, haven't heard from you in a while."_ He recognized the reedy, conniving voice immediately.

"Argent," he murmured under his breath. "What the hell are you doing?"

_"Doesn't matter, though, I found something for ya. That little Adonite thing that was with you when you jumped me…she's still around, ain't she?_

_"Course she is. I found something you might like for her. Got it as part of a trade deal; don't have anything to do with it. Figured you might want it. No catches, no nothing. It's in the 'scraper on Forty-Fourth and Vine. Bring as many people as you want, or just leave it there. Figured I owed you for the tech I stole." _

That was the end of the message. It auto-deleted and the address created a picture in his mind's eye. An abandoned building on the east side of town. It wasn't even fenced in, and was usually a party scene. In other words, completely safe cop-wise. And coming from Argent, completely safe dealer-wise. He didn't have enough leverage to make a serious threat against Kevin, and he had welcomed him to bring as many people for backup as he felt comfortable.

Kevin opened his cell, running through the speed dial.

It took two rings.

"Hey Kev."

"Argent. You have something for me. What is it?"

"Relax buddy, the only reason I don't want it is 'cause nobody else does. It's a necklace. Got a purple stone. I figure it's valuable gem-wise, but who cares? I got bigger fish to fry than Earth gems.

"Girls like jewelry, though. I figured your girlfriend or whatever might like it."

Kevin couldn't help but grin slightly. It was so like Argent to throw away a gemstone because it had no alien-tech value. "She's not my—you know what, I don't care. She might like it."

"Like I said, it's in the building, Forty-Fourth and Vine. First floor, you'll find it after some looking."

"This ain't a setup, is it Argent?" Given, he couldn't take the rat-boy's words for what they were, but if this was a setup, a verbal denial gave him reason enough to beat Argent's face in next time they met.

"Nah, I wouldn't do that. Get it any time you feel like it."

And then he was promptly hung up on. _Oh well_, he thought, shutting the phone. _I might as well check it out_.

Heading for the door, he was stopped dead in his tracks by the mother of all yawns.

"On second thought, tomorrow would be better," he muttered, turning tail and hitting his bedroom.

But when he lay down…he couldn't sleep. He watched the moon absently as it slowly rose above the skyline, bathing the city in silver. And his thoughts drifted to Gwen. They often did these days; he was used to her as a permanent fixture. In all honesty, it was much better than the other things in his head.

So many times he could have asked her out. So many times he had wanted to. Too many sweet moments to count that could have been dates but weren't because if his insecurities. To be bluntly honest about it, he was afraid of hurting her.

She was his beauty, his rose. The constant. Everything in him and around him could go straight to hell if she could just stay, because as long as she was there, it really didn't matter. And he worried himself sick with thoughts of what could happen to her if he let her in and then hurt her.

Kevin knew that something would give someday, that he'd have to face his demons and either lay them to rest or succumb. He was a ticking time bomb. And it scared him that Gwen might have to be along for the ride, that she might be hurt by him because he was such a selfish, ruined monster.

And then, every once in a while, she would look at him in a way that absolutely ripped him to pieces. He was hurting her _now_. Hurting her _now_, for sure, for real, while his fear was of hurting her _then_, maybe, and not certainly. Something about the paradox clicked into place. It was so stunningly simple he could have strangled himself for not seeing it until now. This hurt he was causing her now was so much worse because it was actually happening. There was no 'maybe' about this pain. Gwen was frustrated and sad and confused, and she was going to give up someday.

He sat bolt upright in bed and turned, instinctively, toward the direction he knew Gwen's house lay. A smile played across his lips as he let himself think about her for the first time in weeks with no confliction. Then he drifted to sleep.

—

"And you're _sure_ this isn't a trap?" Ben asked, eyeing the building they pulled up to.

Kevin cocked an eyebrow and rolled down the window. "No. If I was sure, I wouldn't have brought you. But I'm _mostly_ sure."

Ben rolled his eyes. "Yeah, because _mostly_ sure gets us so far."

Kevin gave him a scowl. "Just get out before I change my mind."

Convincing Ben to come hadn't been at all hard; he'd simply told him he had to pick something up for Gwen, that it was important, and that he needed backup to get it. However, convincing Gwen that they _didn't_ need her without actually telling her _why_ had been a task. In the end, the boys had had to resort to just driving off.

Kevin rethought, for the tenth time in as many minutes, how damn lucky he was Gwen had no aim at all. Wrenches didn't get along with his car well.

"Gwen's gonna kill you," Ben informed him as they stepped out of the car.

"I actually doubt that," Kevin replied grimly. "I can't figure how a girl could hate a guy that's going to give her a present and ask her out on the same night."

Ben's eyes widened and Kevin shot him a sideways glance that said 'say nothing'.

"Good job, man," was his simple statement, spoken in a tone that made Kevin think Ben really meant it. "It's about time. So what's this present?"

"Argent said it was a necklace. It's got a purple stone; I'm thinking probably an amethyst."

"That'll definitely do it," Ben replied, nodding in appreciation.

"I hope so," Kevin replied, his voice rising a little with the exertion of kicking the boards on one of the entrances in. "And if she asks, I bought it as a jewelry store, got it?"

"I would expect nothing less of you," Ben replied drily, stepping in after the taller boy.

They stood in the dark for a moment. "It is _really_ dark in here," Ben finally murmured.

"No shit, Sherlock," Kevin replied bitingly. "You got anything on the watch that glows?"

After some thought, Ben offered, "Err…Swampfire…I can use his fireballs…"

"Works," Kevin grunted. "Just give me some light; it's dark in here and it bugs me."

"Afraid of the dark?" Ben inquired teasingly, maneuvering the Omnitrix to activate the alien.

"No," Kevin replied aggressively. "Afraid that there's something in here we can't see waiting to kill us."

"Good point," Ben replied quickly. There was a sudden flash, and Ben was replaced by the tall, plantlike alien called Swampfire. He quickly produce a ball of fire big enough to illuminate the general area, and the boys found themselves in a large, open room. there were many shelves along the walls, as well as discarded chairs and bottles—signs of a recent party.

"Start lookin'," Kevin ordered, automatically taking in some of the concrete wall in case they needed it. "I don't know what it looks like, so…" he trailed off, taking one section of the room. Ben took the other and they began combing the shelving for the necklace.

It took maybe ten minutes, Kevin was just reaching the middle of the second wall when Ben exclaimed, "Found it! Oh, are you in luck…" He held up the necklace in his plant hand, holding up his flame to it so the silver setting gleamed.

It was a fine silver chain, and dangling from it was a small, ovular, purple-pink stone, well-cut and shining. The silver wasn't even tarnished.

"Score," Kevin breathed. "Absolute score."

"Amethyst," Ben confirmed. "Just like you thought. The color reminds me a little of..."

"Her energy," Kevin finished for him, unable to contain a grin. "Oh, this could not be more perfect. Now let's get outta here before something shows up that we really don't wanna deal with."

They couldn't help it, Kevin stuffed the necklace in his pocket and the two of them ran out of the building as fast as they could, an unspoken pact to get away from the possible trap quickly hanging in the air between them. Even in the car, there was a blatant disregard for the speed limit until they were out of the old business district and back on their own side of town.

"That went well," Ben commented as they pulled into Gwen's drive.

"For a tip from Argent, it went really well," Kevin agreed. "One hurdle over with. Second hurdle…" he let his voice die, eyes fixed on a stormy Gwen approaching the car.

"Yet to be seen," Ben finished for him.

"I hope that was worth it," she fumed, hawking Kevin as he stepped out of the car and calmly shut his door.

"Gwen," he started, looking her in the eye. "Why are you so wound up about it in the first place?"

Gwen, taken aback by the sudden, direct tack, looked down. "I…uh…well, you guys should have told me! We're part of a team, we don't keep secrets!" Her defense was weak and she knew it. However, to her surprise, Kevin just smiled.

"We had to run a quick errand. It took us less than a half an hour, no one died, we still have all our money, and you are going to love me for the rest of your life for it."

This shocked and astounded Gwen to the point of speechlessness. The fact that he could be so cool and so self-assured about whatever it was both worried and excited her.

Kevin turned to look at Ben over the top of the car. "Hurdle two, demolished. Good job, my brother." They exchanged secretive grins and returned to Gwen, still confused, still not speaking.

"If you'll excuse us," Ben put in, leading the way to the house. "We'll go eat massive amounts of questionable food now."

As the two sauntered to the door, Gwen finally found her voice. "Wait, guys!" They turned around to look at her. "You said you went and ran an errand!" Kevin and Ben nodded. "So where's the errand?"

"Oh, that's a secret," Kevin told her with a cocky grin. "I'll tell you at…eight-thirty tonight, okay?" he asked, pulling the time out of the air. He didn't wait for her to respond. "Great. Catch you inside, then."

The two companions walked through the door and stopped on the other side, grinning at each other.

"She's completely yours," Ben affirmed, holding up a fist.

Kevin tapped it lightly. "No doubt."

—

Gwen waited. And waited. _And waited_. Ate. Then waited some more. Finally, at precisely eight-thirty, Kevin called.

She leapt up from where she'd been watching TV with her parents, a feeling in her stomach like she was about to jump from somewhere high.

"I'll get it!" she exclaimed breathlessly. "It's for me…" Running into the kitchen where the handheld sat on the counter in it's cradle, Gwen crossed her fingers for luck before picking up the phone.

"Hello?" She couldn't keep the smile and laughter at her parents' confused faces out of her voice.

"Well aren't you a little ball of sunshine this evening," teased a voice she no longer needed to put a face to.

"Hi Kev."

"Hey. Can you come to Ben's place for about an hour? Actually, no, probably more like an hour and a half."

"Umm…yeah, I think so, hang on." Covering the mouthpiece somewhat with her hand so her parents thought she was holding it but Kevin could hear everything, she sidled back into the living room.

"It's Kevin." She ignored the raised eyebrows her parents gave each other. "He's at Ben's. They want me over there for something; if I go now I'll be home by ten."

"Do you have a ride?"

Considering that the Caller ID registered Kevin's cell number, she assumed he was probably actually sitting in the drive with his headlights off. However, just to be sure, Gwen asked anyway.

"Where are you?"

"Where do you think?" he replied.

"Yeah, I have a ride," she told her parents.

"Okay," her mother and father chorused.

All Gwen thought to grab was her purse on the way out, thanking God that her parents liked her cousin and tolerated their ex-convict friend.

Sure enough, as soon as Gwen stepped out the door, the engine of a car revved softly to her right. Looking, she saw Kevin give her a wave from the driver's seat.

Unable to suppress a grin, the girl shook her head. "This…is going to be interesting, at the least."

—

"You said we were going to Ben's," Gwen remarked, looking surprised as they drove in the opposite direction.

"I did. I lied," Kevin shrugged.

"Of course you did," Gwen replied. "So where are we actually going?"

"I'll know when I get there."

Gwen was dumbfounded. "You don't _know_?"

"Where we end up really doesn't matter to me," he informed her, sensing her patience wearing thin. "It's sorta the trip that counts." And suddenly, he knew exactly where to go.

How many cool Bellwood falls had he spent walking around there, following the concrete path with his hands in his pockets and his head in the sky? How many hot Bellwood summer nights had he caught cat naps there, waiting for informants in clearings where he could see stars? And how many times had he wished Gwen was with him?

"We're going to a little place I like to call the woods," Kevin announced, turning the steering wheel. Ironically enough, the woods were closer if they took Ben's way.

"The woods? Kevin, that is so random…"

"Not the woods you're thinking of. I know where there's a trail, it leads to a clearing. Simmer down, it'll be fine."

"Nothing ever goes fine when you're involved, Kevin," Gwen replied. He glanced at her, then the road, multiple times, trying to work out what the expression in her voice was. It was on the edge of mocking, and she was wearing a smile.

"Earlier today went fine," he argued.

"I have yet to see proof of this."

"You'll see it in a minute," Kevin replied, keeping himself from frowning. He could feel the necklace dig into his hip where he'd stuffed it in his pocket; it seemed like it was on fire purely from his nerves.

They drove in silence for a good ten minutes. At first, both were tense, balanced on a knife's edge, but soon the quiet became comfortable. Gwen let herself watch outside; Kevin couldn't have timed it more perfectly if he'd tried. The sun was setting, bleeding it's glory all over the sky in lemon, cherry, strawberry and orange, so bright it practically hurt to look, but so vivid she could've sworn she could taste it.

As the car finally came to a rest, Kevin tapped the girl on the arm gently. She started and looked at him.

"We're here," he told her softly.

"Okay," she replied, her voice barely bridging a whisper. Slipping out of the car, Gwen rubbed her arms, remembering wistfully her jacket hanging on a hook beside her door. "How far away is wherever you're taking me?" Gwen asked, smiling at how little sense that had made.

"Not far," Kevin told her simply, pulling off his jacket and handing it to her bluntly. "Don't argue with me; you're cold and I'm not."

Gwen smiled and wordlessly slipped the light jacket on, grinning and letting out a giggle when she found that the arms were a good three inches long and is hung off her like a dress.

And yet…it was warm, and smelled just like him. She'd settle for it any day. Kevin led her wordlessly into the light wood and she followed absently.

After some time, he finally stopped. "Right here," he told her softly, almost regretting letting his voice pierce the heavy but delectable silence.

Gwen let her eyes adjust to the sudden silver light, used to the dapples the moon cast every once in a while when it penetrated the leaves of the trees overhead.

It was a small, grassy hill, somehow almost deliberately cleared of trees so that it allowed a distinct window to the sky.

"How did you find this place?" Gwen asked, her eyes shining.

"Well…at first, it was a meeting place," Kevin told her sheepishly, looking down. "You know…and then I started coming down here on my own, mostly in the summer because it was warm. It's just…I dunno. It's like your grandpa's secret fishing spot."

"It's beautiful," she murmured, spellbound. She slipped her slender hand into his larger, coarse one without thinking and led him into the light.

Kevin's breath caught in his chest. Never had he seen something so beautiful as this. Gwen was stunning on her own, but tonight, lit by the moonshine, she was radiant. Her red hair took on an incomparable shine and her fair skin glowed. His heart seemed to stop and every inhibition about what he was about to do melted away.

He let the girl lead him to the apex of the hill, staying pointedly behind her for this moment. He wrapped his arms gently around her waist and rested his chin lightly on her shoulder.

"You want your present?" he murmured, and she shivered, moving her arms to rest on top of his and entwine with his fingers with hers. Her head tilted to lean against his.

"Absolutely," she breathed, and he smiled gently, freeing his left hand slowly so he could reach into his pocket.

"Close your eyes," he ordered, and he looked to make sure they were closed before pulling the necklace out. He took a moment to position it perfectly in front of her eyes, the silver shining like Gwen's eyes. "Okay…open." His chest constricted as those endless green pools opened and fixed themselves on the necklace.

"Oh Kevin," she gasped, reaching out to catch the amethyst stone in her hand. He lowered the pendant slowly and closed her hand over it with his own.

"I figured it was about time to ask you if you wanted to catch a movie and dinner sometime," he informed her warmly, a genuine smile playing across his lips, softening his edgy features. Gwen turned in his arms to put her own around his neck and give him a squeeze with all the strength she had.

"Of course, you big doof," she smiled, and the two stood just the way they were for a long time, letting themselves indulge in what they had wanted more than anything for a very long time.

* * *

**lol, because watermelon Jolly Ranchers pretty much pwn. **

**dowse—like dowsing rods; she can use stuff to find other stuff **

**Um…oh yeah, just wanted to say, I have NO IDEA when this takes place. Sometime roughly along the lines of A/F, although nothing in the episodes will affect anything, except maybe for passing references like, "remember that one time when…" or if someone, like, dies. O.O**

**Questions? Comments? Concerns? Review! I'll see what I can do, and yes, I DO take requests. Because people are asking. **

**Coming up next: Chapter three of "Lock and Key":**

3: In Search of Entertainment

Sheer boredom pushes the crew to their limits, resulting in driving lessons, Uno on a monumental scale, and what are quite possibly the world's greatest milkshakes


	3. In Search of Entertainment

**Um…WOAH! Twenty-one reviews? For two chapters? I like, LOVE you guys! I hope I don't let you down!! **

**DISCLAIM: Everyone say it with me… Ben, Gwen, and Kevin pop up "She doesn't own us!" Kitty pops up "She owns me, though…I guess…"**

**CHAPTER DEDICATED TO: My little brother, for introducing me to this wonderful world, strange aliens, adorable cannon characters, and all. **

* * *

3: In Search of Entertainment

Sheer boredom pushes the crew to their limits, resulting in driving lessons, Uno on a monumental scale, and what are quite possibly the world's greatest milkshakes

"_There will be no rules tonight_

_If there were we'd break 'em_

_Nothing's gonna stop us now_

_Let's get down to it"_

_-Our Time Now, Plain White T's _

—

"Well, you can't lie and say you didn't see it coming," Gwen murmured smugly, bumping her hand against Kevin's as they shuffled places outside the car.

"No," the boy replied through gritted teeth. "And that might be what makes me the maddest. If he crashes, it's on your head."

Gwen held up her hands innocently and watched her new boyfriend slide into the passenger seat of his beloved car.

The time had come, like it inevitably would, for the Tennyson children to get their Learner's Permits, and Gwen knew from the moment Ben picked his up that he would be waiting for his chance to slide in behind the steering wheel of their close friend's automobile. And that chance had come, also inevitably, when they were running to the next town to meet a member of the new team to go over a few things.

"Alright," Kevin sighed, swallowing his nerves and disagreement—if anything, this _was_ a chance for an adrenaline rush unlike any he'd had in a while. "Put it in gear and let's roll."

Ben grabbed instinctually for the gearshift to the right of the steering wheel, but to his surprise, he clutched at air. "Uhh…" The unusual happening forced out a murmur of confusion.

Grinning, Kevin tapped the shift, which was between the seats, where the console should have been. "Right here."

"It's…not a manual, is it?" Ben asked, flustered over why such a modern car—why _Kevin's_ car—would have such an old and uncommon feature.

To his relief, Kevin shook his head. "Nah," he reassured the younger boy. "It's always been like that. Drive it the way you usually would."

"Oh…" Ben trailed off, gripping the shift and dragging it back to 'D'. He then tapped the gas lightly, letting off as the finely-tuned vehicle jumped forward with an appreciative purr. Gwen laughed softly at the sparkle in her cousin's eyes. If there was anything Ben and Kevin would ever be able to connect on, it was this car.

With a little more confidence, the young hero put his foot back on the gas pedal, moving the car forward, back onto the road, and into acceleration smoothly. Kevin couldn't hold back a nod of approval; the kid really did know what he was doing. Once the speedometer leveled sixty, Ben withdrew, letting the car coast at an even—and legal—speed.

"It's much easier to drive than the Rust Bucket," he commented, letting himself relax and sit back in the seat. "Responds better to my thoughts than my hands," he joked, eyes flitting off the straight road for a moment to further examine the dashboard and it's various buttons and knobs.

"It's just smaller," Kevin replied knowingly, but he was unable to keep a note of pride from ringing out in the answer.

_Oh yes_, Gwen thought to herself. _This will be the bonding object_.

They rode in moderate silence for the remaining half-hour of the drive. The warm, sleepy quiet was punctuated only softly and every once in a while by Kevin, prodding his pupil in the right direction when posed with passing and sharp turns. Gwen found herself drifting quickly, and the next thing she knew, the cool window on which she had lain her head was taken away, swiftly replaced by a warm hand.

"We're here, Gwen," Kevin's deep, hushed voice told her. It took her a moment to process the encouragement to stand in the comment; she was too busy wondering at the soft tone he always seemed to address her with. He was usually so loud, his voice typically roughly joking or sarcastic. But when speaking to her, it took on a gentler, smoother tone, that of one approaching something very dear to oneself, so dear that one might worry about upsetting it.

Not that it wasn't a nice change. Just mildly unexpected. Gwen realized with a jolt that Kevin had quirked an eyebrow in the span of the few seconds she'd taken to ponder this, and his lips had curled up in a smug smirk.

"You want me to stand like this all night?" he asked her, his voice back to somewhere midway between a moment ago and his usual.

"No," she replied, standing suddenly enough to push him backwards. He let himself stumble a little. To humor her.

"Okay, then, let's get this show on the road." She hid a small sigh—the instant was over. He was back to his loud, rollicking self, sauntering away from her with his hands in his pockets. Or so she thought. At the moment she moved forward to follow him, he paused and looked over his shoulder, a different, warm smile on his face.

He held out a hand and motioned her over. "Come on," Kevin prompted her. "Ben's waiting."

Gwen paused for a moment before jogging over, grabbing his hand tightly before he could take it back. He tensed a moment, openly surprised that she'd taken his hand, but he relaxed again and they walked over to where their teammate had taken up residence—under the roof of a gas station, leaning against the wall of the building and scanning the handfuls of people going in and out.

"A gas station?" Gwen asked, cocking an eyebrow. "Really?"

"It's a small town," Ben replied, sounding preoccupied. "They don't have anywhere else to meet that we'd be able to find."

"What does he look like?"

Ben stifled a laugh at Kevin's question. "_She_. Kitty Mason is a _girl_."

Kevin shrugged. "Okay, why not? What does _she _look like?"

"Like me," a new voice supplied. "Hi Ben."

The girl approaching had long, curly blonde hair, a fair complexion, and dark blue eyes. She wore a pair of ripped jeans and an old tee shirt, and a leather strip hung from her neck, weighted with four tiny bells that made her jingle slightly when she walked. Once level with the team, she stuck out a hand to shake.

Ben took it first. "Hi Kitty."

"And you two are Kevin and Gwen, right?" Kitty asked, her dark eyes taking in the unnamed two. "I'm going to assume you're not Gwen," she added, grinning at Kevin.

"Actually, I'm not sure these days," Ben joked, earning a roasting stare from Gwen and a shove that knocked him into the building from Kevin.

"I'm Gwen," the redhead told Kitty, letting go of Kevin's hand briefly to shake.

"And that leaves Kevin," the blonde finished for herself, taking Kevin's free hand momentarily.

"Okay Kitty," Ben addressed the new girl. "You have somewhere where you can show us what you can do?"

"Sure," she replied. "There's a lot on the edge of town I use to practice. No one goes there, and it's not far away. If you guys wanna follow me, I can show you where it is."

Ben glanced inside the station, to the clock hanging behind the register. They'd started out a little later than they'd wanted to, so curfew loomed on them if they wanted to get everything done tonight. It was eight-thirty, curfew was ten-thirty, and it was at least another half an hour back to Bellwood.

"We have time if we hurry," he told Kitty, turning back. She nodded and jogged off, over to a black Grand Am.

"How old is she?" Kevin asked, eyeing the car with question.

"Sixteen. At least, that's what she told me," Ben replied, walking over to Kevin's car. "And don't even start. It's a decent car for a kid who's _not_ an underground crimelord."

"I am _not_ an underground crimelord!" he opposed heatedly. "No anymore, anyway. Oh," he added. "By the way, it's Gwen's turn to drive."

Gwen took a step backward, startled by the proclamation. "Uh…why?"

"Because you need hours too. Or do you wanna sit through driver's ed in the winter 'cause you didn't get enough credits?" Kevin asked, opening the driver's door for her. "C'mon, it won't bite."

The little square of plastic, so innocent a few hours ago, burned in Gwen's pocket. It struck her as somewhat odd that, now that they had their Permits, Kevin was all but overjoyed to let them drive. And, in all fairness, she was a little intimidated by the car Kevin drove around. It was easily twice as big as her mother's car, and blocky where it should have been curved off and smooth. Not to mention, she could tell just by the way Kevin and Ben handled it that it was squirrely.

Kevin tapped her on the shoulder and waved her in with his hand. "Let's get this show on the road," he prompted.

"Right…sorry." Gwen swallowed her nerves and slipped into the car, grabbing at the leather of the steering wheel experimentally.

Kevin, having strode around to his side, snorted. "Can you even see over the wheel?"

She fought a smile as she aimed a swat in his direction—the great thing about having Kevin around was that she couldn't stay uptight about much for long. After adjusting the seat so that she _could_ see over the steering wheel, Gwen put the car in gear and urged it forward.

To her surprise, it _was_ a dream to drive, just as Ben had said. Not at all as jumpy as she'd expected.

"She's better than you," Kevin chided, turning to grin at Ben.

"She had me to watch," Ben protested, crossing his arms over his chest good-naturedly.

"I don't think so…" he trailed off, returning to face Gwen. "You look nervous." He drummed his fingers lightly across hers where they sat splayed out on the console. "What's up?"

"It's a big car," she replied tersely, her eyes locked on the bumper of Kitty's car.

"Big?" Kevin scoffed. "I though you used to drive the Rustbucket."

"I did…somewhat. But I've been driving Mom's car lately, and it's half the size of this. Do you _need_ a car this big?"

"It's not big," he argued. "It's a sports car, Gwen. For God's sake, you're taller than it when you stand up."

"True," Ben put in.

"Look how boxy it is." Gwen refused to lose this argument. "It's like a tank! How much does it weigh?"

"I dunno, three or four tons? What does it matter?"

"Three or four _tons_? You have to be kidding me!"

"Not with all the alien tech piled inside this thing. You couldn't roll it on a wall," Kevin boasted proudly, completely missing the point of Gwen's previous comment.

"Nah," Ben grinned. "It'd just fall off and sit there on it's side till you rolled it back over."

"Point is…it's huge and I don't like driving it," Gwen concluded.

"Tiny girls driving big cars is awesome, Gwen," Kevin smiled, and like he'd predicted, Gwen blushed slightly and fell silent. Ben chuckled darkly and Kevin stifled a smirk. He would've pressed his luck a little further, but ahead, Kitty slowed to a stop beside a large, abandoned, overgrown lot.

Gwen mimicked her wordlessly, pulling the keys from the ignition so that she could pelt them at Kevin as he stepped out of the car.

"Ouch! Gwen, I was just kidding," he hissed, bending double so he could catch the keys.

"I know you where." She crossed over the front of the car to push him sideways. He stumbled backward, catching himself just before he fell flat on his back.

"Gah! What was that for?"

"I was just kidding," Gwen chimed innocently, leaning against the side of the car.

Kevin scoffed wordlessly and picked himself up. He moved more quickly than Gwen had anticipated, suddenly at her side, his arms around her waist.

"Don't toy with me," he warned with a wicked smile, and Gwen promptly found herself being thrown over his shoulder fireman-style.

"_Kevin!_" Gwen shrieked, balling her hands up into fists and pounding them into his lower back. He just laughed and held her more firmly.

"Okay. Let's see some powers in action," Kevin grinned in a completely normal tone, as though he wasn't dangling his girlfriend over his shoulder.

"Let. Me. Down!" said girlfriend ordered, adding a punch with each word for emphasis.

"Alright," Kevin shrugged, uncurling his arm and dropping his shoulders. Gwen hit the ground with a distinct _thump_.

"Ouch…" she moaned, rubbing her head. She shot a death glare at Kevin. "You are such a jerk."

"Aww," he laughed, reaching down to pick her back up and set her on her feet. "Come on now." He pulled her to him quickly, stealing a peck on the lips. "Love ya."

Gwen's expression softened, and Kevin smiled. Instead of returning the kiss, however, Gwen smacked his forehead with the heel of her hand. "I love you too." Only afterward did she touch her lips to his and smile back.

"Um guys…" Ben laughed, waving his hands to get the couple's attention. "We're here for a _reason_, you know. You can do that later."

"Right," Gwen replied, blushing and trying to pull away. Kevin, unabashed, simply removed one arm and dropped the other around her waist. "Go ahead, Kitty. Sorry."

"It's okay," the blonde girl laughed, putting her hair up into a loose ponytail. "My big sister and her boyfriend are the same way."

"Sister?" Ben asked, interest in his eyes.

"Yeah. I know what you're thinking. No powers. Bummer, huh?" With that, she took a few steps backward and leapt into the air. When her feet touched the ground, they were covered in golden fur and clawed. She had transformed herself into a jaguar.

_Whatcha think?_ she asked the three, eyeing them with large, liquid tawny eyes. Except…she didn't _ask_. She _thought_. They heard the words in their heads.

"Whoa…" Ben, Gwen, and Kevin chorused, watching the cat-girl with huge eyes. In a flash, she was a horse, a falcon, a python, a zebra, and to top it off, a Bengal tiger.

_I take it you like?_ Kitty assumed, laughing in a strange purr.

"_That_ is awesome," Gwen smiled. "I think you're in. Right boys?"

"As far as I'm concerned," Ben confirmed, nodding. "Kevin?"

"She's in," he agreed, watching Kitty as she became human once more. "That's even better than your power, Benji."

"Actually, I think it is," Ben agreed, stepping up to shake hands with Kitty once more. "Thanks for showing us what you can do. You have a Plumber's badge, right?"

Kitty nodded. "It was my mom's."

"Good. If we need you, you'll hear from us through that. We need to get back home, but you'll hear from me or Gwen soon."

"Great. I'll see you guys around, huh?" She extended hands to Gwen and Kevin, which they took.

"Absolutely," Gwen promised before darting off, dragging Kevin after her. She tapped the hood of the car with a smirk. "Yes. That's a win. I'm driving home."

Ben and Kevin rolled their eyes, but they didn't stop their red-haired companion from getting into the driver's seat.

"You know, I think she likes driving this thing a lot more than she lets on," Ben grinned.

"Definitely."

—

"Whoa. Look what I found, you guys!" Gwen exclaimed, shutting the chest in the living room with a _bang_.

"What?" Ben sat up with a start and Kevin looked over lazily; he'd been _this close_ to falling asleep.

"Nothing important," Gwen assured the two. "Just…look, Ben." She held up a blue box, a little bigger than one a deck of cards would come in. Written across the front in outdated lettering was a single word—_Uno_.

"Is that the…" Ben trailed off, getting up off the couch to take a closer look at the card game.

"The one Grandpa always hauled around? The one we spent hours playing? The one you still owe me about two-hundred dollars from? Yes, yes, and…let me think…yes."

"Oh funny. Hilarious, even," Ben deadpanned, sitting beside his slightly older cousin and taking the deck from her. "Let's play," he urged suddenly, standing again and opening the box, shuffling through the well-loved deck.

"Let's," Gwen agreed with a smile, unable to suppress a hundred memories of playing the card game with Ben and Grandpa on rainy afternoons and lazy Sundays when no one felt like doing anything else.

"How do you play?" Kevin watch the two shuffle and deal out the brightly colored cards, searching a fuzzy and, frankly, unwelcoming childhood for clues of what the unfamiliar game might be.

Ben looked up in surprise, eyes fixed on his delinquent buddy. "You never played this? Not when you were a kid and…" he trailed off, realizing all too late where that conversation thread had been headed. Realizing all too late that the Kevin before him was, regardless of how unbelievable the fact might seem, the one they locked in the Void. Of course he'd never come across something like Uno in his childhood.

A silence splintered on the three, painful as one tried to trace his steps backward, one tried to slam the door on a flood of unwelcome memories, and the last forced herself to wait it out. Finally, the moment passed uneasily, Kevin simply shook his head. "Nope," he replied, his voice falling flat, void of emotion.

"Kev—" Ben started, but again, he shook his head, a little more forcefully this time.

"Ben, drop it, okay?" he requested, fixing him with a level stare. Not hostile, just focused.

He shrugged wordlessly and Gwen shifted to pick up her dealt hand, moving almost reflexively closer to Kevin. She could feel his stress and grabbed his hand, squeezing once to snag his attention and to remind him…she _was _there.

"Alright, teach me how to play." He gave her a pathetic excuse for a smile, but she took it and ran with it, explaining the rules and going through a few example hands with Ben to make sure Kevin had the hang of it.

"Okay, let's play for real this time," Ben prompted, redealing cards for him and Gwen. "You get it, right?"

"It's simple," Kevin assured him. "I'm gonna own you guys."

—

Three hours later, Kevin didn't own much of anything, including, depending on how seriously Ben was taking this game, his own car and most of the appliances in his kitchen.

"I think you need to cut him some slack, Ben," Gwen laughed, unable to catch a breath seeing as Kevin had just desperately gambled his refrigerator—fully stocked—on his next hand.

"Stay outta this, Gwen!" Kevin exclaimed, looking a little frazzled. "I know exactly what I'm doing! And can I get another milkshake?" he asked in a slightly more sane voice. "Please?"

"You both have had four apiece," Gwen chastised, waggling their empty fountain glasses at them. "Do you know how much sugar is in _one_?"

"Why do you think I'm still sitting here?" Kevin countered. "There's so much sugar in me right now that I can't even _stand up_ without my head ringing!"

"I know! That's the best thing about Gwen's milkshakes!" Ben giggled, throwing down a SKIP card. "Skip Kevin!"

"NO!" he yelled back, glaring at Ben in disbelief. "That's the fourth one in a row! _When_ will it _end?!_"

"Not for a long time, buddy," Ben smiled back.

"Oh for God's sake," Gwen exclaimed, tossing a REVERSE card onto the pile. "Kevin's turn. Give him hell for me while I go make more."

Kevin, exultant in his newfound turn, gently set down a DRAW FOUR.

"Revenge," he smiled simply at Ben's crestfallen face. "And that's just the beginning. I think I'll change the color to…" Kevin examined his hand, a wash of red and yellow. "Yellow."

Ben promptly placed his head on the table. "No…" he groaned softly, reaching out to draw his four cards.

A blender roared to life in the kitchen and the boys sat impatiently, awaiting the return of their third player and the resuming of the torture.

After some time, Gwen strode back in, carrying three glasses, topped off to their very limit with chocolate milkshakey goodness.

"Did you give him hell, Kevin?" she asked, sitting down cross-legged gracefully with no hands and dishing out the milkshakes.

"Hell was administered to it's most hellish maximum," he replied around an evil grin, taking his shake and sipping some carefully off the top.

"Do you _feel_ the regret, boy?" Gwen turned her attention now to her defeated cousin, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yes…" he moaned.

"Good. Now. I think it's my turn, right?" Ben and Kevin both nodded and Gwen picked up her hand. She laid a SKIP on top of Kevin's DRAW. "Skip you, Kevin," Gwen informed him sweetly, giving him her best smile.

Kevin was dumbfounded. "What?!" he exclaimed. "You let me…you played a…" his attempts at explaining Gwen's moves to her trailed off, leaving only an expression of dejected disbelief.

"It's nothing personal," Gwen reassured him, throwing her arms around his neck in a quick hug. "And by the way…" She held up a solitary card in her fingers. "Uno."

The boys groaned in unison.

—

"To your credit…" a lazy voice sounded in the darkness of the living room. Gwen turned, her hand on the banister. She was about to go up, but the flippant comment to come had promise enough to make her stay for it. "Those were probably the best damn milkshakes I've ever had." She could hear his smile. It laced his words and warmed them.

Gwen shifted, replacing her lifted foot on level ground with the other and withdrawing her hand from the railing.

"You, Kevin Levin, are going to be the one who explains your presence to my mom and dad tomorrow morning," she teased back, letting the compliment slip under her armor and curl up beside her heart. Alongside the amethyst necklace she hadn't taken off for days.

"What? Ben's here too, it's not like anyone was doing anything illegal." The dark form of Kevin sat up on his elbows from where he was on the floor. He was turned silhouette in the sickly light of a streetlamp filtering in through the window. "Right?" The mischievous tone made Gwen cock an eyebrow, all too aware of the fact that, while she couldn't see him, he could see her.

He chuckled before sitting up completely and then standing, running a hand through his mop of midnight-dark hair.

"Relax. I'll be gone before you even wake up tomorrow. Clean everything up and all of that."

"I know," Gwen replied softly. If anything, Kevin wouldn't get her in trouble with her parents. Well, not _much_ trouble. For that, she was grateful.

But inside, she wished maybe he would stay until morning, like it was some sort of promise he didn't have to make, that he would always be there, that he would know, without her having to tell him, that she wanted him around for as long as he was willing to stay. And Kevin seemed to pause and draw a little closer to Gwen. He didn't know he was doing it, he just wanted a closer look at what he could see going on in her eyes.

"Unless you want me to stay here." It was half-question, half-statement.

"That _would_ be nice," Gwen replied softly, letting herself smile. He'd become perceptive quickly.

"Well, then it looks like I'm staying."

"Were you serious about not knowing how to play?" Gwen asked, stepping up to stand chest-to-chest with him, tapping his bare shoulder knowingly.

He scoffed. "Do you think I would fail that completely if I _did_ know how to play?"

"No, I suppose not. It's gonna be poker tomorrow, isn't it?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Kevin replied, his face giginv him away.

"You could own him in poker. And win your car…and most of your kitchen back. Which reminds me…why would you bet your kitchen?"

"I'm a teenage boy. Do you really think I _use_ my kitchen?"

She laughed quietly, not wanting to wake the still-sleeping male Tennyson. "True."

Kevin slipped his arms around her waist, drawing her marginally closer. The look on his face said that this had been his intent ever since calling her back from the stairwell.

"I think we scare your baby cousin," he informed her.

"Nah," she replied. "He's just intimidated because he knows him and Julie could turn into us."

"He's just intimidated because he knows I could kick his ass, more like," Kevin corrected.

Gwen thumped his shoulder lightly with an open hand. "Okay, one, you could _not_ kick his ass, two, it's not nice to use your size to scare people."

"Does my size scare people?"

"When they don't know you, sure it does. Sucks to be tall, huh?"

"Sucks to be short, huh?" he shot back.

Unable to answer with the keen retort, Gwen simply stuck her tongue out at him. And again, Kevin had to smile at the sight of his girlfriend sticking her tongue out.

"That was funny the first time, and I doubt it will ever _stop_ being funny." He kissed her briefly on the forehead before pushing her backwards "Bed. Don't want you tired when I pick you up tomorrow."

Catching herself easily—he really hadn't pushed that hard—it dawned on Gwen what he had mentioned this morning, coming over to her house.

Their date was tomorrow. She'd completely blown it off! Almost totally forgotten!

"Oh no! We have a date tomorrow! I completely forgot! Kevin, I'm so sorry!"

He laughed loudly at her distress, missing Ben lifting his head from the arm of the couch. "Relax. It's tomorrow, not in ten minutes. Go sleep, though, you're a nightmare to be around when you're tired."

But now that she remembered the important date, Gwen was abuzz with questions. "Where are we going? When are you picking me up? What time will we be home? Is it out of town?"

Another laugh, another light shove toward the upstairs. "No, no questions. I'll be around before noon, I promise. But other than that, get out of here, we both need to _sleep_."

"No!" Gwen squealed, all pretense of quiet forgotten. Kevin sighed to the ceiling before grabbing her up and carrying her up the stairs bridal style.

"I am _so_ lucky your parents aren't home right now," he murmured, struggling somewhat to contain the wriggling girl

"That _would_ be a story for them, wouldn't it?"

"One I'd rather not explain." At Gwen's door, he nudged it open with a socked foot. He dropped her onto her bed gently "Okay, I carried you all the way to your room. I _will_ break the doorknob off if you don't go to sleep."

"Well, fine then," Gwen pouted. "Hang on a second…" she trailed off, and as he turned around to see what she needed, she took the sides of his face in her hands and caught his lips on hers.

After a moment of kissing that was significantly more impassioned than anything thus far, Gwen pulled back slightly, a grin gracing her lips.

"Nothing. You can go."

Kevin smiled back and retreated out of the room. Just before he closed the door, however, he called in, "By the way, I'm staying all night, I'll be here when you wake up, and we're leaving at six-thirty. In fact, I'll probably be the one to wake you. I love you, and goodnight," he finished in a rush, slamming the door as the half-alien girl leapt up, shouting explicatives over his wild laughter.

To his credit, he didn't break the doorknob off.

* * *

**Lolz, they get pretty OOC when sugar is involved…Kevin even starts using big words! Mostly a fluff ****chapter—you're going to need it for what's coming up next. **

**Explanation of Kitty—in "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" Ben mentions that, because they have a team built up, they wouldn't necessarily need Gwen if she decided to go with Verdona. So I'm going on the grounds that they do indeed have a team. O'tay? **

**Coming up next, Chapter 4 of Lock and Key:**

4: Full Circle

Kev tells all, after some coaxing from Gwen, and answers everyone's questions about everything


	4. Full Circle

**My unending love to you all. You have NO IDEA how bearable you make my school year. An angsty trip into Kevin's psyche is in order today, please note that not much plotwise will happen for most, if not all of the chapter. This is ****my**** take on his story after Ben 10, I can't say I have any idea about what **_**really**_** happened. But whatever. I hope I get it right. **

**CHAPTER DEDICATED TO: Linkin Park. When I needed to get inside Kevin, you guys were suddenly there. Like the twisted, most awesome rescuers you are. **

* * *

4: Full Circle

Kev tells all, after some coaxing from Gwen, and answers everyone's questions about everything

"_I've become so numb I can't feel you there_

_Become so tired so much more aware_

_I can't feel the way I did before_

_Don't turn your back on me_

_I won't be ignored_

_I tried so hard _

_And got so far _

_But in the end _

_It doesn't even matter _

_I had to fall _

_To lose it all_

_For what I've done_

_I start again_

_And whatever pain may come_

_Today this ends_

_I'm forgiving what I've done"_

_-Numb, Faint, In The End, and What I've Done, By Linkin Park (respectively)_

—

"Wake up, Gwendolyn," a teasing voice requested, nudging the sleeping girl gently. "Gwe-en…" it singsonged, tapping her shoulder, pulling at her hair, tickling her neck. She stirred.

"Mmmmnthppph…" Gwen replied as if this explained everything, turning onto her side and curling into a ball.

"Please don't make me get a hose," her waker sighed, prodding her firmly between the shoulder blades.

"Ben, go 'way!" the girl snapped sleepily, throwing an arm back blindly in an attempt to slap the one disturbing her.

"If I was Ben, would you wake up for me?"

"If you were Ben, I'd eat you alive," she growled, turning back to face what she _thought_ would be the face of her hours-younger cousin. Imagine her surprise when she found the features of Kevin Levin grinning at her, eyebrows raised in polite interest.

"Would you really; because he's asleep right now, and he probably wouldn't put up much of a fight."

Gwen's face fell, from anger to disbelief to defeat. "You don't joke about anything, do you?" she asked the boy, recalling his parting comment from last night.

"Not really. Your parents love me, by the way."

She groaned, letting her face fall back into the pillow. "You talked to them?"

"Yes! I can take care of myself! How did you think they were gonna take a strange guy sleeping in their living room?"

"I don't know," Gwen admitted. "But they like you?"

"Yeah," Kevin replied, rolling his eyes as through it was the most obvious thing on the planet. "Go take a shower, babe, we're leaving at seven-thirty whether you're ready or not."

"What time is it?" the redhead asked, sitting up and stretching. Kevin forced himself not to watch in fascination.

"Six-thirty," he replied.

"Anything special I need to watch out for?" Gwen crossed her room slowly and opened the door to the closet, stepping in. "Getting tossed in a river, maybe, or fed to lions?"

"Tossed in a river, maybe, lions, I doubt it, but you never know."

"Stainless steel, then," the girl replied with a smile. If he felt like being cheeky, he'd get cheek in return. "Get out."

"Why?"

"Because I need to shower."

"There's a shower in here?" Kevin asked, looking around in confusion for something he may have missed.

A slender hand poked out from around the closet door, pointing to a closed door Kevin could only assume was a private bathroom.

"Alright. I'll be here when you get out, and then we need to leave."

"Kay," Gwen replied, her tone unconcerned. If her father hadn't shot him yet, he wasn't going to any time soon. She hoped.

—

"You're still not going to tell me where we're going, are you?" Gwen asked, sliding into the passenger seat of Kevin's familiar car.

"Actually," he started, pausing to start the car. "I wanted to talk to you about it before we go." Turning to her, the dark haired boy examined his girlfriend a moment. "There's some stuff I should have told you a long time ago," he murmured, swallowing his pride for her sake. "Stuff I know you wonder about. I see it when you look at me," he added, still more quietly, when it looked like Gwen was about to contradict him. "I don't blame you for wanting to know."

"Kevin, you don't have to—" Gwen started, reaching out to put her hand in his in a gesture that had rapidly become familiar, even expected. She, however, stopped speaking when Kevin shook his head forcefully.

"Yeah I do," he insisted, recalling Ben's words when it came to Julie. _She's obligated to know! If she's dating me, she's gonna find out sooner or later, and it's better that it comes from me._ "You're…it's something you have the right to know. There's a thousand different ways you could find out, believe it or not. I'd rather you heard it from me." Reminding himself to thank Ben later, he more or less borrowed everything the brunette had said.

"…okay." While it was obvious that Gwen was unsure of his readiness to tell her the story, she would take his word for it.

"I was thinking about someplace we can go before the movie, somewhere quiet where I can tell you and just get it over with." Kevin's tone was rushed. This was such a raw subject, mostly because he'd just never dealt with it this way. "It's not gonna be anywhere fancy, in any case. But the best I came up with is the clearing." Earthy eyes clouded with worry, Kevin glanced over at Gwen for confirmation.

"Well…" she started. "I wasn't expecting you to want to tell me so soon. Anywhere is fine." Indeed, Gwen was flustered and a bit surprised that he was going to tell her now. Sensitive as he was about his old life, she would have expected him to need at least another month, if not more.

Kevin just nodded, visibly relaxing. He drove with ease, eyes on the road but occasionally straying to Gwen. In his mind, he tried to find a way to desensitize himself from the story he was about to tell—it would be so much easier on both of them if he could just speak the words, give her the memories, and be done with it. And he refused to cry. He was Kevin Levin. He didn't cry.

In retrospect, the drive was much too short. Both parties regretted how quickly the simple silence was shattered by slamming car doors and soft instructions. It was just past sunrise, but the dying summer was evident in the climate—it was warm and comfortable already.

Gwen walked beside Kevin now, hand in hand, somewhat confident that she knew where they were going. The familiar, hilled clearing appeared in good time, and the two made themselves comfortable in the grass.

"Tell me what you want to know." Kevin's eyes snagged Gwen's, dragged them to his and held them, their typical intensity holding her spellbound. In light of recent events, Gwen wasn't at all surprised to see darkness prowling in the familiar orbs, a certain note of haunting in them that usually wasn't there.

Her first instinct was to ask the obvious questions: how are you human? Why are you out of the void—not that she minded much—? What's with the new powers? But, being the subtle creature she was, another, stealthy, second wind blew a better question around her ears. It seemed like an odd question to ask, but her own character pushed her to ask it, propelled by a simple but raging need: to understand.

To Gwen, everyone was a puzzle. A series of pieces, clues, complex hints that, when put together, led to a surprising and satisfying end—a completed picture. In her experience, the end was never what she expected. It was usually something better. And it had taken her very little time to realize that Kevin Levin would be the most difficult of them all to understand and solve. The most rewarding.

So her subconscious begged her to ask a subtle, simple question.

"What happened?"

Kevin, thrown off by the minimalism of the question, blinked. "What happened when?"

And now Gwen struggled to put it into words. "When we first met you," she started slowly, fixing him with a stare that showed how hard she was puzzling over him. "You were alive. You were so full of energy; you had more potential than running around on the streets would let you use. And you were trying to get out. You reached out to Ben when you met him. You wanted _someone_ to throw you a rope and pull you out."

Kevin felt his face grow warm at the eerily accurate description of his eleven-year- old self. He vividly remembered thinking that way, acting that way. His opinion of Gwen's evaluating ability rose. She had always been good at reading people, but this was nothing short of amazing.

"Then, when we met you the second time, you were different. You were angry and frustrated and humiliated." Gwen looked off, away from him for the first time since she began to speak. Kevin could practically see the hulking form he'd been saddled with in her line of vision. Her brows furrowed like, even now, she was trying to make sense of the drastic change in the boy, not physically, but mentally. "And I could understand that, you know? But what I didn't get was, when it seemed like you should have been trying to get help the most, you weren't. You were cold and distant, almost afraid to make that connection you wanted to make so badly when you were still human. And I always wondered why.

"So my question is, what happened between the time you got the Omnitrix's powers and the next time we fought you that made you stop wanting to get out?"

That wasn't the sort of question he'd been expecting. Gwen had just made this tremendously more personal than he'd been prepared for. She wasn't asking him about his escape, or about his powers, or anything that had to do with that aspect of his past. She was going back further, to the beginning.

Thinking fast, Kevin tried to come up with the words to answer her. But none came. How could he explain what happened to his mind and soul those first few months? How could he explain that, as such a young child, he had truly believed that if he didn't look human, it meant he wasn't?

"I was a kid back then. I thought like a kid. I did what a kid would do." At Gwen's questioning look, he continued. "Did your older brother ever dress up for Halloween?"

"Yes…" she replied, trailing off, entirely uncertain of where this was going.

"Okay, did he ever dress as something that scared you? Like, when you were little?" A nod prompted him on. "How hard was it to convince you that he was still Ken? He scared you because he looked like a monster, and because you were so little, you thought he was.

"It was kind of like that. All of a sudden, I was a freak. People ran from me and called me a monster. And, since I _was_ only a kid, it didn't take much to convince me that what they 

saw was real." Kevin breathed in deeply, a single memory sticking out sharply, like a shard from the broken window of what had once been.

"At first, I was just sad. And lonely. For a while, I made some noise, hoping you and your cousin would come again, just because you'd known me before I became a monster. Then, I just did it out of habit. I kinda gave up on you ever coming back, and I decided to do something I'd been thinking about doing since I first got turned.

"I still remember my parents' address, so it wasn't hard to find them then. I wasn't really expecting them to be there…but they were. My mom was in the kitchen, making dinner. I could see her through the picture window in the living room, the one that faced the backyard. I never felt more like an eleven-year-old kid in my life. It was like, seeing her, my mom, made me still human. I had a family, and even if they gave me up, these people gave birth to me and they were still _here_."

The memory came back full strength now—Kevin's eyes took on a far-off quality as he recalled that evening.

It was dark, and raining. Not a hard rain. It was warm, too, and felt welcome on Kevin's tough skin. There wasn't even wind, and no thunder or lightning yet. Just a gentle summer rain. As he watched his mother's familiar form flit back and forth between pans and plates and countertops, a rare wave of emotion hit him.

Maybe it was because he was weary from traveling so far to get back here—he'd been in Iowa when he decided for sure he was coming back, and it had been a long flight. His wings were sore. Or maybe it was a different kind of weariness, the kind of weary that came from hearing screams and seeing terror when he displayed himself publicly. The weary that came from being a bane of society and looking the part.

Whatever it was, it forced a whimper out of him, his teeth clenched fiercely on his lower lip, as though he were little more than a boy coming home from school with a scraped elbow. It also forced a single tear, and as he shifted his upper left arm to wipe it away, the hard crystal of his fingers knocked on the glass.

Dread filled him—the accidental noise had cause his mother to turn and see him in the window. Kevin froze, an emotion in his pupliless eyes that should have radiated need and sadness. He hoped that this woman, his mother, of all people, the woman who had given him life, would see him in his monstrous disguise.

She didn't. She let out a scream he could hear through the plate glass and said things he couldn't quite catch, but he knew the tune well enough to know that this place held no sanctuary. He bolted, pushing off the window with one hand so hard that he heard distinct cracking noises as he propelled himself into the growing night, the warm spring rain that had felt so nice moments ago coming down harder and harder with each retreating stride.

"It was like, before that, I'd always had a little hope that maybe the people were wrong. But when my own mother was afraid of me, that just blew it all to hell. Kind of a weird way to think about it, but I never said I made sense. After that, I was done with being human. I didn't want to be one of the cowards that looked at me like that and couldn't take what I was. Because my mom wasn't the first one. I tracked down plenty of people who knew me before, and they were all afraid.

"So I stopped trying. I was so disgusted with humanity that I started to believe I was a monster, just to escape it. It let me down, and I figured there was no way I could really be human anymore if I hated it all so much. That's why it seemed like I wasn't trying anymore. I wasn't. I figured out pretty fast that, in this new form, I didn't need anyone to get me anything. I could do it all myself."

He seemed humiliated to be admitting this, like it was something unsightly, unbelievable. And indeed, he was humiliated. But it was the truth, and although Gwen seemed somewhat disturbed at the idea, Kevin could tell she knew where he was coming from. That was what drew him to her in the very beginning—no matter how grotesque and wretched he sometimes got—and he couldn't help it—she would always at least try to understand. Kevin had to admit that he really didn't know why she would. Maybe it was a game she hated to loose. Either way, it was his gain.

Attempting to break the dark turn the conversation had taken, Kevin smiled, his subconscious lighting on the first remotely bright memory going chronologically from the one of his mother. New York.

"Remember New York two years ago?" he asked, his smile becoming a smirk at Gwen's expression, some odd cross between embarrassment and shock.

"So it _was_ you," she muttered through a grin, a delicate blush turning her cheeks rosy. She pushed away from him with her palm, suddenly sheepish, rolling onto her other side from the where she had been laying against his chest on her side.

"Yeah," he chuckled, grabbing her shoulder as she rolled away and pulling her back. "It was. At the time, I was lonely. Becoming human again made me realize how much I wanted to be. Seeing you that day made me decide I was gonna try to be something next time we met. I didn't expect it to be so soon."

"I bet if you met Ben you woulda punched a hole in the wall," Gwen grinned, only half teasing.

"Probably," he allowed, letting his outstretched arm come to rest casually around her waist. "Anything else?"

"Are you sure? That was a lot to talk about already…" Gwen trailed off, her uncertainty coupled in her eyes.

"Yeah." And surprisingly, he was. While it did bring back some dark feelings to evoke these recollections, he found that retelling them to Gwen was easiest. Just one smile from her usually had the uncanny ability to lift him from a mood, and the joking moment had put all the angst behind him. It was a strange feeling this recounting gave him, not just one of closure, but one of completeness. Like, telling Gwen, one of the few who had been there at the beginning, what she had missed, was like comming full circle. Like another rotation was about to begin, this time changing everything for the better.

"Okay. How'd you get out of the Null Void?"

"Oh, that one's easy. A two-for-one, actually, 'cause it answers your next one, too. How did you get your human form back?

"I started to realize, the stronger I got, and the better I got at focusing, just clearing everything from my mind, the easier it got to regain my human form and hold it. See, I figured out that the only time I reverted to the amalgam was when I got out of control. If I could get to point blank and get a handle on my emotions, it was easy to go back and forth, and then to hold it. After some practicing, I could even get angry and not go back. I could stay human, and switch at will.

"Then, it was easy to get out of the Void. I went in as an amalgam, so as long as no one saw my human form until I needed them to, no one knew who I was when I _was _human. I started to get to know this one Plumber guard. My story was that I was there by accident, and it was backed up when they ran my DNA through a database. My DNA signature is different when I'm human. It didn't recognize it, so everyone figured I was just some unlucky soul who got thrown in randomly. I picked up stuff from them—the stuff I know 

about the Plumber's badges and alien tech—I learned most of it from them. And about half-aliens. That was when I realized what I was. A half-alien. Not a freak, and not a monster. I just had a little alien blood. Finally, when they arranged a way for me to get out, they just let me go. Set up a reverse wormhole right there and sent me right back to Earth. They even let me pick a return address so I'd know where I was when I got there. Piece of cake."

Disbelief hit Gwen like a ton of bricks. "That's it? No massive war, no full-scale raid, no killing, no violence? You just walked right out?"

Kevin grinned, unable to keep the pride of his slyness out of his voice. "Yup. Soon as you got 'em fooled, you stop needing violence to get it done."

"Wow. Good job. Using your head for once," Gwen joked, clapping him on the shoulder.

His expression, however, went from proud to serious. "Yeah, well, you get tired of smashing heads together every once in a while. I was way overdue for the change of pace, believe me."

"Didn't they notice they were one inmate short?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow. It seemed odd that they would just let it go.

"I'm sure they probably did," Kevin replied in an offhand way. "By the time they figured it out, though, I was way too lost in the crowd for them to find me again. Next question."

"Your new powers."

"Hmm. That one's a little harder. See, I'm still not sure myself, because when I was a mutant, I couldn't use my powers. When I finally regained human form, I just had these new ones. I have a couple of ideas, but neither of them are concrete."

"But your new powers are so similar to your old ones. And you got them from your alien bloodline, so they can't just change. I mean, they're not superpowers—" Gwne was cut off by a raised hand.

"I said I had ideas," Kevin smiled, amused by the girl's eagerness to solve the mystery. "Do you wanna hear 'em or not?"

Gwen nodded silently and he continued.

"The first one is that the species I get my powers from was still evolving when they entered my family's line. That would make the abilities more flexible and susceptible to change. I figure that, since there was no energy to absorb where I was, but plenty of raw material like steel and concrete, my powers changed slowly to suit my needs. But since I was mutated, I couldn't use them, so I didn't notice the difference until they had changed completely."

"Viable," Gwen allowed, a calculating look in her eye. "Assuming your powers were active when you were in amalgam form. A good idea, in any case. What's the other one?"

"The other one is that the species was fully established and what I had when I was a kid was an immature form of the mature powers. As I got older, they shifted and matured, and again, I didn't notice the change until I was human. That would explain why they're basically the same power, it's just the display and things I can absorb that have changed."

Again, Gwen nodded. "They're both good ideas, and I guess we'll never know until we find out more about the species you have the blood of. They seem concrete, and a lot more possible than some of the things that have happened to us." Indeed, in light of what she was used to facing, the idea that her boyfriend had alien powers that were either unstable and susceptible to change, or had several stages of maturity was really quite run-of-the-mill, even dull, to Gwen.

"I like how being who you are has made you so open-minded," Kevin replied sarcastically, rising slowly from the ground and stretching before extending a hand to help her up. "It really makes explaining things easier."

"So. Is this where the date gets normal?" asked Gwen, accepting the hand.

"I sure hope so," he replied, a sneaky grin stealing his features. "Race you back to the car."

And then he darted off, Gwen a few seconds behind him, screaming at the top of her lungs that she had no idea where she was going, that he was a jerk, that his legs were longer than hers, and that she was varying degrees of angry, from ticked off at the beginning to really mad at the end.

Needless to say, Kevin beat Gwen to the car. He stood, bent double, one hand resting on the driver's side mirror, and breathing heavily when Gwen finally came panting up.

"What…took you…so long?" he smiled. "I been standing…here for ages."

Gwen simply stalked up to him, fished his keys out of his front pocket, and pushed him backwards in reply. "I'm driving," she growled, giving her suddenly grounded boyfriend a 'just try to stop me' expression. He held up his hands and smiled.

"It's all yours, babe."

"Good."

No more words were exchanged as the couple got in the car, Gwen in the driver's seat and Kevin respectfully taking his place in the passenger side. He let the redhead start the car and negotiate it with ease onto the highway, at which point she froze. It had dawned on her that seven-thirty was much too early to see a matinee, indeed, the theatre probably wasn't even open yet.

"Okay," she relented, hating every minute of asking for help after the show she had put on. "Where are we going?"

Kevin simply burst out laughing.

—

"The Dark Knight, X Files, or Hancock. Take your pick." Kevin offered the choice of the movie to Gwen, digging into his back pocket to procure his wallet. Life had slowly inched toward three o'clock, and the two teens had been content to fill the extra time with a trip to the pier and lunch at Gwen's favorite restaurant—a family-run Chinese joint that had items Kevin couldn't even pronounce. There, they had reached the impasse of paying, which was sorted out only one way: Kevin could pay if Gwen could order him any dish on the menu, and he had to eat it. Needless to say, it was an interesting lunch indeed.

As much fun as the two found themselves having, the matinee was a much-welcomed chance to sit down and relax before round four—dinner at the restaurant of Kevin's choosing.

"X Files is way to close to real life, and I heard Hancock was a bust, so Dark Knight it is. Have you seen it yet?"

"Sadly," Kevin replied, moving over to the ticket booth. "I have way too many things to do before I can hit the movies whenever I want, so no."

"It is pretty sad when a sixteen-year-old boy can't find a good excuse to go to the Dark Knight," Gwen agreed, slipping her arm through his free one and trailing it down to grab his hand.

"Two for the Dark Knight," Kevin requested of a boy not much older than himself. "Good thing I had a date tonight, this is the last night they're showing it and people woulda killed me if I missed seeing it in theatres." He took the tickets offered to him, thanked the boy briefly, and swiftly paid from them out of his own pocket and steering her off to the concession stand before Gwen had a chance to argue.

"Chivalry is dead, Kev," Gwen rolled her eyes, placing her order and elbowing him out of the way long enough to pay for the popcorn and pop herself.

"It's not dead till I kill it," Kevin argued, pushing her gently to the side to make his own order.

Gwen cocked an eyebrow, but let the argument lay as they walked into theatre seven, where the lights were already dimmed and previews were playing.

"Oh whoa," she smiled when she got inside.

"What?" Kevin asked, pushing her along to see around the partition into the showing room. "Oh. Whoa."

Because the whole theatre, designed for a hundred and twenty people, was completely empty. The two shared a grin before making their way to the best seats in the house.

For two and a half hours, they had the place to themselves, leaving them free to laugh aloud at the funnier scenes, talk about how stupid _that_ little stunt was, and, in Gwen's case, yell in startled surprise a few times, which, in Kevin's opinion, warranted him free license to hold her as tight as he pleased. She didn't seem to mind.

"Heath Ledger…definitely the best choice for Joker," Gwen affirmed when the lights came up and they walked out of the theatre.

"I dunno about Twoface…" Kevin contradicted, balling up their trash and sinking it into a passing garbage can. "I didn't like him."

Gwen simply shrugged—the movie, in general, had been good, and seeing it without Ben or Ken to constantly make commentary on it was a relief.

"To dinner, then," she smiled, retaking her usual place in the passenger's seat.

"To dinner it is. And before you even start, I _am_ paying."

Gwen let the subject lie again—indeed, she wasn't really too adamant about paying for herself. She was much happier to sit and mull over what Kevin had told her about this morning—the idea of scorning humanity so completely added a whole new level she needed to explore before she was ready to declare a complete knowledge of the boy to her left.

In fact, she stayed peaceful until they pulled up to a very expensive-looking restaurant—the Alley Rose, one of the top restaurants in the city.

"How are you gonna afford this?" Gwen asked, gaping at the beautiful burnished bronze doors and elegantly frosted plate glass windows.

"I know a guy," Kevin replied. "Your fancy food awaits, m'lady."

It drew a faint smile across Gwen's lips to think of Kevin, brash, loud Kevin, inside the dining splendor of the Alley Rose. This would be the king of interesting dinners.

* * *

**Well, when all was said and done, it wasn't that angsty. I thought it might be, so…there you have it. I hope you'll take my explanations, and I also hope you'll excuse it's beastly length, lol. Kevin's recounting took a little longer than I expected. glares at Kevin, who flips Angelz off For anyone who cares to know, a side fic will eventually be born that explains their escapades at the pier and lunch to be titled **"**Carnival Prize". It's obviously a play on their first trip to the pier in chapter 1, entitled "Carnival Games", and will essentially be a supplement chapter of stuff that wasn't central to the plot. REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!! I'll shut up now. **

**Coming up next: Chapter 5 of "Lock and Key": **

5: Meet the Parents

Gwen coaxes Kevin into meeting her parents for the first time as a boyfriend and not just a teammate, but luckily (or not), the meeting is broken up by an unannounced guest


	5. Meet The Parents

**Huge luff. But you guys already knew that. Here, the story finally gets back on-plot. Big time. If anyone had noticed, BenxJulie has faded somewhat into the background, and I do apologize for that. **

**CHAPTER DEDICATED TO: Colten-na-na-na-na, who is my Kevin. (much love) This one specifically is dedicated to him because he stayed up with me on the phone till about three one night recently, helping to hammer out the plot, which is why this story suddenly seems to have one, lol. **

* * *

5: Meet the Parents

Gwen coaxes Kev into meeting her parents for the first time as a boyfriend and not just a teammate, but luckily (or not), the meeting is broken up by an unannounced guest

"_Here's the countdown_

_3... 2... 1... now fall in my arms _

_Now they can change the locks_

_Don't let them change your mind"_

_-Check Yes Juliet, We The Kings_

—

"Gwen…you're kidding me." Kevin let his fork hit the plate for the first time in a solid ten minutes.

Gwen studied the boy on the other side of the table. He fixed her with a disbelieving gaze that fell just short of dumbstruck. "No…I'm not. If we're going to go out, my parents need to meet you. It's kind of a routine thing."

"They're going to hate me," he replied in a monotone. "I mean, seriously. Can you see _your parents_ liking _me_?"

Actually…considering what she'd seen during today, the answer was yes.

Kevin had shown a whole new side, upbeat, playful, funny, kind, and dare she say it, _polite_. The little gleams of his good side that had caught her interest at first shined through nonstop today—it was enough to make her wonder if his short temper _did _come exclusively with Ben.

And even now, among the finery of the restaurant he had chosen himself, he was so different. While Gwen's first impression of Kevin plus fine dining had been a bull in a China store, she had found herself proven drastically wrong. In the main dining room, positioned in the middle of the room, the two sat. Men and women in dress clothes looked them up and down disdainfully, but the teen's attentions had stayed fixed decidedly on each other.

But Gwen couldn't help but notice Kevin's shift in demeanor once they entered. He became quiet and polite, navigated the multiple courses and silverware options with an almost inbred ease, and had table manners that dominated Ben's. Which left the redhead…confused. Again.

"Okay, stop," she interrupted their conversation with a confused smile. "Where did you learn how to do that? I thought you were a street urchin."

"Learn how to do what?" Kevin asked, obviously clueless. Meanwhile, his fingers danced through cutting a fillet mignon and the similarly basic-for-polite-dining task of selecting the right fork to eat it with, something Gwen admittedly struggled with.

"Kevin. Honestly. Look at you. And for the love of all that's holy, _what_ do I eat this with?!" She gestured hopelessly to the pile of seafood and rice in a shallow bowl—the "catch of the day" Alley Rose style—Kevin's ideal order for her.

Hiding a smug grin, Kevin indicated the requested pieces of silverware. "What? A boy can't have good dining manners?"

"No," Gwen replied, eagerly grabbing the indicated fork and digging in. "You can have all the good dining manners you want, I just wonder why you bothered to learn."

"Look. The owner of this restaurant? I've known him since I walked into Bellwood two years ago. He kinda took me in. I learned some stuff. Which is why you're eating for free today."

Gwen almost choked on her food. "What? They're _giving_ you…what…" she eyes the huge fillet on Kevin's plate. "Three pounds? of beef, and at least a pound of lobster, which I suspect is Maine, and a bunch of other expensive food _for free_?"

"Why not?" Kevin shrugged. "He always told me, 'Kevin, if you ever find a girl you want to impress, you bring her here and we'll take good care of you'. Well, I did."

"Okay. I'll buy that. Because I'm not going to let this point go. You have to meet my parents."

Kevin let out a frustrated sigh. "Gwen. Come on. They'll hate me."

"They loved you this morning! They have nothing bad to say about you when you leave every night! You said it yourself, you're pretty hard to dislike."

"Not that hard, just ask Volcanis," Kevin replied smartly. "Your dad seems like the kind of guy who would kill me because I'm your boyfriend."

"You know what?" Gwen changed tracks abruptly, crisply spearing a shrimp on her fork and using it to gesture across the table. She knew how to get him to fall right in. "I think you're afraid of them. I think you're worried you'll screw up."

"You're damn straight I am," Kevin nodded. "Look at it this way: I don't have a job. I'm a high school dropout. I have no identity as far as the government is concerned. I'm not even sure I have a blood type anymore, let alone something that I can impress your parents with."

"You do so have an identity," Gwen argued the one point she could.

"You wanna bet?" Kevin shot back, cocking an eyebrow. "How does a guy who was an orphan for the first eleven years of his life, then didn't live on earth for the next two, and _then_ got by as an intergalactic arms dealer have a social security number?"

"…Okay, you've got me there. But are they going to ask that? No. All we have to do is tell them you're homeschooled, give them some obscure job reference, and then hope you're as naturally charming as I think you are. It should go fine."

"No."

"I could have Ben just tell them all about you and hope they still let me see you." Gwen threw down her ace in the hole and gracefully attacked the lone claw of lobster on her dwindling plate.

Kevin was silent for a long moment, contemplating over his last piece of steak. "You give me a week's head start," he growled. "And I'll blow your parents out of the water."

—

"Umm…Mom, Daddy, I have something I want to talk to you about."

Frank and Lilly Tennyson looked up from their dinner to watch their daughter squirm and put down her fork and knife.

"What is it, dear?" her mother asked, concern showing through because of Gwen's obvious discomfort.

"You know you can tell us anything," her father added, leaning forward. If that Levin boy had done something…

"It's not bad," Gwen rushed to comfort them. "I promise, it's nothing bad. I was just…well, you know Kevin." It was half question-half statement. They _should_ have known him; he was in their living room yesterday. Both parental units nodded, prompting Gwen on. "Well, we've been talking about this for a while, and we decided last night that we wanted to start going out."

As far as Frank and Lilly knew, Gwen had been with _Ben_ and Kevin yesterday. She hadn't lied; she had just conveniently not told them she would be alone with the dark-haired boy all day.

Gwen figured she had gauged her parents' reactions rather well. Both were somewhat startled, but strangely calm, which put her at unease. I mean, this was her first boyfriend—maybe. Probably. Shouldn't there have been more…hype?

"Well, we need to have him over some night and we can all talk about it," Frank told his daughter.

"We have him over all the time. You guys have met him."

"But this is different, sweetheart," Lilly pointed out gently. "If the two of you want to start dating, we need to ask him some questions first. How about tomorrow night?" she offered. "I was thinking of making spaghetti, and we always have too much of that. He'd be welcome to come over and stay for supper."

Gwen, always the planner, was stunned. They weren't supposed to offer a date. This would mess everything up—she'd promised Kevin a week. Now he barely had twenty-four hours; but it would be impudent as hell to turn the date down. "Okay. I think we can do that." She glanced down at her plate—she'd strategized over this all day, trying to time bringing it up with getting done eating. "May I be excused?"

"Of course," her father nodded, and Gwen slipped her plate into the dishwasher and ran upstairs, grabbing the phone from it's cradle on the way, leaving her parents to discuss more important manners.

"I don't know, Lilly," Frank started. "That boy seems a bit…loud…for Gwen."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Lilly replied. "I think he was perfectly polite when we met him yesterday, and Gwen gets along with him very well." Something in her tone made Frank raise his eyebrow.

"Did you see this coming?" he asked.

Lilly fixed her husband with a stare. "Of _course_ I did," she laughed. "In my opinion, if Gwen finds him suitable, we should trust her judgment." In her opinion, Frank shouldn't be putting the boy down so quickly—he was never around when the kids came over to the house. Lilly had seen much more of Kevin and she was pleased with what she saw. "As far as I can tell, he's a very kind young man, and concerned for Gwen's safety more than anything. And I can tell Gwen genuinely trusts him."

She'd seen this coming since Verdona's little…_visit_. She was almost sure that the children had momentarily forgotten the parents were even in the room, especially Kevin, who was positively vehement at the mention of Gwen being compromised. Two things became apparent that night, and in those specific moments: that their baby was into whatever she was into a lot farther than anyone could have guessed, and that she was in very protective hands between Ben and this new boy, Kevin. Lilly didn't know where he'd come from or how Gwen met him, but she was sure no harm would come to her daughter if Kevin Levin had half a say in the matter.

"Alright," Frank relented after a moment of deliberation. "We'll meet him and see what he has to offer."

Lilly smiled—this was one of the moments you lived for as a mother. She had been so happy when Kenny got his first girlfriend, and now Gwen was soon to have her first boyfriend. Maybe now, after all the signs that Gwen's life was anything but normal, this one feature of teenage life would help her touch back with her normal half.

She went upstairs to talk to her daughter—that was, if she could get a word in edgewise between Gwen and the boy on the phone.

—

"Yo."

"I swear you were waiting for my call."

"Um…yeah, I've been waiting all day. What's the word?"

"Well…you're in. We have a little problem, though."

"What's that?"

"…Erm, well, my mom set up the date for tomorrow night." Gwen, sitting on her bed, had to hold the phone away from her ear at Kevin's reply.

"WHAT?! Gwen, you told me a week! You told me a week! Now I have to come up with a whole life story in a _day_?!"

"Yes! Yes, I'm sorry, but they gave me a date and I couldn't turn them down. We're lucky they even want to give us a chance," Gwen soothed. A long silence ensued and Gwen could practically see him sitting on his bed, hitting his head against the wall rhythmically. _Thump…thump…thump…thump…_

"Okay." His long sigh said that if it wasn't for her, he wouldn't be doing it. "We'll have to play it by ear then."

"Yeah. I'm going to say come over around seven…I'll call you if something changes." Gwen was starting to wrap up the conversation, as she could feel her mother's energy behind her door. "My mom is outside, I think she wants to talk."

"Kay," he replied, already in a mood that the conversation had been cut short.

"I'm sorry," Gwen apologized gently. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Yup. Bye. And Gwen…I love you."

"Love you, too." When Gwen hung up the phone, a warmth was in her. It struck her, for some reason, that Kevin always made a point of telling her he loved her—it wasn't that he drew attention to it or anything. But recently, he'd been calling every night to talk to her—sometimes for upwards of an hour—and at the end he would always say 'I love you,' and say it with such simple, pure devotion.

"You can come in, Mom," she added, and the door opened.

"Hi, honey," her mother greeted her, walking over to sit on the edge of the bed and hold her hand. She smiled at her daughter, whose eyes shined brighter than they had just ten minutes ago. "You have deep feelings for this boy, don't you?" she asked.

Gwen blushed a delicate shade of pink and nodded sheepishly. "I told him to come over around seven tomorrow night."

"That's fine."

"Mom…you knew I liked Kevin, didn't you?" Gwen asked the question she'd been thinking about since her mother had reacted so calmly in the kitchen.

"Of course I did, Gwen," Lilly replied warmly. "It's a mother's job to notice those little things. And I should say, he certainly took his sweet time."

Gwen, stunned by her mother's open reception, asked, "So…you're fine with this? Me wanting to go out with someone you've never met?"

"Sweetheart, you're a teenager. Dating people your parents don't know comes with the territory. I trust you to make smart decisions when you need to. Okay?"

"Okay. Thanks, mom. And goodnight."

"Goodnight, baby."

—

Kevin Levin was afraid.

As far as he knew, he had never experienced this level of fear before. And was never likely to do so again.

DNAliens did not scare him.

Highbreed did not scare him.

Charging into dark rooms, fists flying, completely unprotected but for a millimeter-thick layer of metal did not scare him.

Rats, darkness, slimy things, and the other various things Gwen was afraid of did not scare him.

Gwen's father, however, _scared him_.

"Mr. Tennyson, sir," Kevin greeted the other man awkwardly, holding out his hand to shake.

"Hello Kevin," Mr. Tennyson replied, not quite warmly, but with no venom, either. He took the hand Kevin offered and shook it.

"Nice of you to drop by, Kevin," a slightly more familiar voice greeted the nervous boy.

"Hi, Mrs. T," he smiled. Mrs. Tennyson he was tenfold more comfortable with. She was usually the one who was around to offer the three friends refreshments and snacks when they were here, and she had made a point to make the dark-haired teen feel welcome when it was obvious that Ben and Gwen had wanted her to do so.

"Gwen's just upstairs," Mrs. Tennyson informed him, moving to the staircase to call her daughter down.

Kevin, unsure of what to do next, let his hands drop to his sides and assumed what he hoped was a non-threatening, non-aggressive, and mostly non-I'm-a-troublemaking-idiot.

He didn't have to wait long. Gwen came down the stairs shortly after and it became apparent that her mother hadn't told her why she was coming downstairs. The look of polite confusion was replaced by one of sheer delight and Kevin indulged himself in one of his favorite things to see—her face at the sight of his. She absolutely lit up. Even her father seemed surprised at the happiness on her face at the sight of the boy.

"_Kevin!_" she yelled, smiling widely. To everyone's surprise, the slight redhead ran over and threw her arms around him in a hug that made him step backward a little.

"Hi Gwen," Kevin replied, fighting a crazy grin of his own as he maneuvered his arms out of her grasp to give her a quick squeeze.

"Good timing," she praised him, stepping back a little. "Dinner's ready and I'm starving."

"Don't let me keep you from anything," he insisted in a hurry. "I—"

"Come eat," Gwen cut through him. Both of them knew she'd just kept him from rambling pointlessly. He smiled gratefully and she shook her head, following her parents into the dining room.

"Hmm…spaghetti?" Kevin guessed as Gwen helped her mother carry in food.

"Yup."

"Excellent. I got it," he added, standing and taking the pot of noodles from Gwen. He made himself busy until everyone else had sat, and then took a seat at the only empty chair, realizing as he sat that this must be Ken's chair…when he was home. It was at Mr. Tennyson's right, with Gen at the foot of the table and Mrs. Tennyson across from him. He took a deep breath. Alright. Let the grilling begin.

Kevin didn't think he looked that scared, but apparently he was wrong. As Mr. Tennyson drew in a breath to begin, a warm, familiar hand brushed across his white knuckles before gripping his hand—hard. Gwen ate rather awkwardly with just her left hand.

"So, Kevin. Why don't you tell us how you met Gwen?"

Kevin let out a mental sigh. That was it? He was expecting something trickier. "Well, I've had powers since I was a kid," he started, so glad Gwen's parents were now at least somewhat in on the secret. It made it so easy to lie. "And when I found out Ben Tennyson lived in Bellwood, I moved down here. We met briefly in New York five years ago, see, and I wanted to see if I could still take up his offer of a team. I met Gwen totally by accident."

Gwen bounced her head down and then up in a nod, a movement so miniscule you might have missed it if you weren't looking for it. Kevin was.

"Oh really?" Mr. Tennyson asked. He'd just spotted hole number one. "And your parents were fine with you coming across the United States on your own?"

Gwen blanched. Oh no—how had Kevin walked into this one?

"Actually," Kevin started calmly. This conversation was in his palm. Again—just too easy. "My parents emancipated me when I made it clear that I wanted to find Ben and work with him. They helped me set up payment for an apartment on the outskirts of Bellwood and got me set up to take my high school courses online and then turned me loose."

Absolute genius—Gwen was proud. Even Mr. Tennyson was taken aback momentarily, allowing Kevin a moment to gracefully shovel a few forkfuls of spaghetti into his mouth.

"So do you have a steady income?" Mrs. Tennyson asked, a little startled. Kevin seemed like he had all he needed in the way of food and clothing, and that car he drove must have cost a pretty penny, but a sixteen-year-old-boy affording rent on an apartment _and_ basic living? That was surprising.

"Of course," Kevin replied. "I work two part-time jobs that are flexible enough for me to help these guys and do my schoolwork and still get paid. Plus, if I need anything, my parents set up a good fund. I've got enough for what I need."

_Perfect_, Gwen mouthed, hiding it behind a bowed head. Kevin grinned smugly and squeezed her hand. He was falling into stride better and better—that was at least three questions deflected in one, for a total of five, and no one had even yelled yet.

"That's good, Kevin," Mrs. Tennyson complimented. She was genuine. "Not everyone your age could get by on their own."

"But I'm not on my own, though, Mrs. T," Kevin protested, surprising even himself as the words came. "Ben and Gwen have been there to help me out from the beginning."

"That is such a lie," Gwen laughed, removing her hand from his to push him lightly. "It's not like we loan you money or give you food."

"No, it's true," he insisted. His words took on a double meaning just for Gwen, and he fixed her with an intense stare. "Whenever I just got sick of it, all I had to do was spend some time with you guys and I'd remember why I left New York. Whenever I just wanted to quit this, you helped me remember it was worth it."

Both parents sensed something much bigger than what met the eye here—it was something in the way the two teens were looking at each other with eyes much older than fifteen and sixteen, something in the way they were sharing something most didn't discover until they were at least twice these two's ages.

In Lilly's opinion, it was a job well done. She sat back from the table, satisfied. These kids, she did not have to worry about. Frank, however, was a different matter. Just as he was about to put in a few words about an intensity he read really, _really_ badly, the front door burst open, and he realized that a pair of love struck children was the very least of his worries.

And in Kevin's opinion, life had just taken a turn for the worse. A sickly-familiar magenta light washed the walls and an even more unwelcome voice followed it.

"Where's my granddaughter?"

And to his utter surprise, Gwen leapt up, smiling widely. "Grandma!"

"Okay…" Kevin looked up toward the ceiling. "You know, if you wanted to screw with me, maybe you could've just given me a gay Ben to deal with!" he growled darkly, wondering shortly if any godly entity had heard that. He sincerely hoped not.

"Hello Gwen," Verdona smiled warmly, taking her granddaughter into her arms. "How have you been while I've been gone?"

"Great! I've been working on everything you showed me, and I wanted to talk to you about something…but I guess you'll figure it out soon enough…" Gwen pushed her hair behind her should, embarrassed slightly. Her grandmother, cloaked in her human guise, raised Gwen's chin, cocking an eyebrow.

"Something to talk to me about? Indeed?"

As Gwen was about to explain, Kevin walked in, looking a bit unsure of whether or not he was still welcome. A knowing smile spread across Verdona's lips. "Oh. I see. Hello, Kevin."

Taken aback by a _warm_ greeting from his girlfriend's psychotic grandmother, Kevin simply sat down on the couch, closing his eyes.

"Okay. I'm done. Somebody wake me up when reality kicks back in, please and thank you."

Verdona shared a look with Gwen. "You haven't explained much since the last time I talked with you, have you, dearie?"

Gwen blushed a little. "Um…I've been getting there."

"Well, I suppose we can work on that. Back to the reason I stopped in. I sensed something funny in the house today…" she trailed off, looking over Gwen's shoulder. "Your cousin hasn't…developed Anodite powers, has he?"

"What? No, Ben's still human. Ish," Gwen added in afterthought.

"There's something strange about the manna in this household. It seems almost like the energy has doubled, but I know even a gifted Anodite like you can't grow that fast." 

Verdona paused, looking downward. "You know, I wonder if…you haven't found any Adon, have you?"

"Adon?" Gwen asked. "I'm not even sure of what that is…" she trailed off.

From the couch, however, Kevin looked up. "Oh wow. I can't believe I never…" he too trailed off, leaping up off the couch and bounding over to Gwen. He lifted the silver chain around her neck with stunning speed and gentleness. "Yup." He smiled at the purple-pink stone and held it out a little to Verdona, a triumphant grin on his face. "There you go."

"Well, I'm surprised at you, Kevin," Verdona smiled, taking the pendant from him to let it rest in her hand. "When Gwen told me you got a hold of some amethyst for her, I wondered, but I decided you couldn't have found any if you'd tried. This, my dear, is Adon. It's a crystal from our home planet, and it matches the life vibrations Anodites give off. That means, when we're around it enough, it can enhance our powers."

"Really?" Gwen asked, her eyes wide. She turned to Kevin. "Did you know what this was?"

"Actually…no…" Kevin admitted. "But it worked out for the better anyway."

"I…I suppose," Gwen replied, unable to stop smiling. "So this can make me stronger? Can it make me as strong as you?" she asked her Anodite grandmother. "Without having to destroy my Earth body?"

Kevin moved closer unconsciously—if talk was moving to destroying her again, he wanted to be ready to cut his losses and run—with her in his arms.

"It could," Verdona replied. "I have a proposition for your team, dear, and this changes everything."

"Really? What is it?" Gwen asked, absolutely pumped. The promise of growing stronger, her grandmother offering missions, _and_ that Kevin had caused it all was just too good to be true.

"Relax, kiddo!" Verdona laughed. "You need to get some sleep. So do you, Frank, Lilly. And as for you, Kevin dear…where do you sleep?"

"At my place," Kevin bristled. "I do have my own house."

"Eh. Shall I take him home?" she asked Gwen.

Gwen laughed. "No. He has his own car." Turning to Kevin and her parents, Gwen smiled. "So, Mom, Daddy, what's the verdict?"

"As far as I'm concerned, it's fine," Lilly smiled. Frank simply nodded.

"Alright. Kevin, swing by tomorrow? We can talk to Grandma about this then." Gwen's eyes said something totally different, so Kevin simply nodded.

"Okay. Bye," he enveloped her in a hug. "Thanks, Mr. and Mrs. T. For everything. And…Verdona…good to see you?" Kevin trailed off, wondering exactly what to say to the Anodite.

"Your welcome, Kevin dear," Lilly replied warmly.

Verdona nodded at the boy. "Drive safely, boy. I couldn't take it if my little Gwen had to go without."

"Err…sure."

—

Kevin gave the family ten minutes. when the lights went out in the living room, he started climbing the tree, then onto the roof and through Gwen's window. There, like he knew they would be, were the Anodite woman and his girlfriend, the latter on the phone with her cousin.

"Ben…get down here. Grandma Verdona is here, she says she has something to tell us. Kevin's already here…well, yeah…just climb the tree. Don't let Mom and Dad know you're here. Kay. Bye."

With that, Gwen shut off the phone and threw the handset onto her bed, continuing over to hug Kevin firmly.

"Good job tonight," she smiled, pecking him lightly on the lips. "And I had hoped you'd get the hint."

"But of course," Kevin scoffed. "Okay, what's Grams got to say?"

"Not until Benjamin gets here, boy," Verdona chastised lightly. "In the mean time, I think it's high time you tell your boyfriend what we've been doing these past months, Gwen."

"Okay. Now, this will sound weird…"

* * *

**I am SO SORRY it took me so long to update. I would be really surprised if you guys stuck around for me anymore. (Hangs head in shame.) But still. Sorry. On a lighter note, I'm sure everyone watched Alien X last night. Opinions?**

**Her mom's name…it's Lilly, isn't it? Isn't it? I'm not sure. (dies) Um, bwa-ha-ha-ha, return of Verdona. YER. And yes, she has **_**big**_** plans. **

**Coming up next: Chapter 6 of "Lock and Key":**

**Chapter 6: A Key**

Kevin, feeling threatened by Verdona's presence and influence over the family, pulls Gwen closer in an attempt to hold onto her, and resorts to unorthodox on a level only he can


	6. Author's Note

Hey, guys. I know a lot of you must be wondering if I'm dead or something. Well, I'm not, but I've got some bad news regardless. I've been trying to kid myself into thinking I could save Lock and Key for a long time, but the truth is it's got no plot and that's going to be a major problem along down the road. The other problem is that, recently, I just haven't had time to work on full-scale projects like it, and, as you may have noticed, I've settled into oneshots.

This means that, yes, LaK is on indefinite hiatus, and probably will never be finished. However, I promise you that eventually I'll have a better-written version of it (including plot!) for you to read. I feel horrible about having to do it, but I think that's my only option.

So. What happens in the meantime? Well, I'm relishing the five-day break my school has given me for Thanksgiving, and that means I'll be doing a lot of writing. For now, what you'll be seeing from me is sketches, oneshots, character development and the like, setting up for another novel-length piece for Alien Force. Does this mean I'm closed? No, definitely not. If you guys have oneshot requests, I'll be glad to do them, and ideas for the new story (both LaK v2 and the new piece) are very welcome.

Thank you to everyone who still puts up with me and hasn't deleted me from their alert lists. Anyone who has only alerted this piece, I ask that you kindly put **me** on alert as well, so you can see when I add new oneshots.

Looking foreward to posting again,

Angelz


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